After losing 64% in the past year, Diagnósticos da América S.A. (BVMF:DASA3) institutional owners must be relieved by the recent gain

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Diagnósticos da América implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• Oliveira Trust Servicer S.A. owns 54% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls Diagnósticos da América S.A. (BVMF:DASA3), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 80% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

After a year of 64% losses, last week’s 16% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a possible sign that returns might start trending higher.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Diagnósticos da América, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Diagnósticos da América

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Diagnósticos da América?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Diagnósticos da América. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Diagnósticos da América, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Diagnósticos da América. Oliveira Trust Servicer S.A. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 54% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 20% and 4.8% of the stock. Dulce De Godoy Bueno, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Co-Chairman of the Board.

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 Diagnósticos da América

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Diagnósticos da América S.A.. In their own names, insiders own R$296m worth of stock in the R$3.0b company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 10% 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.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Diagnósticos da América that you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.