Retail investors among Nuix Limited's (ASX:NXL) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 6.1% last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Nuix indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 51% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders
• Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls Nuix Limited (ASX:NXL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 41% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, retail investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 6.1% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Nuix.

Check out our latest analysis for Nuix

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nuix?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Nuix already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Nuix, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Nuix is not owned by hedge funds. Macquarie Corporate Holdings Pty Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 29% of shares outstanding. Australian Ethical Investment Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 5.0% of common stock, and ECP Asset Management Pty Ltd holds about 4.1% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Nuix

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Nuix Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around AU$47m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 41% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 29%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 5.7%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Nuix better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Nuix that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.