Individual investors own 12% of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (BVMF:VIVT3) shares but public companies control 76% of the company

Key Insights

• Telefônica Brasil's significant public companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 76% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Telefónica, S.A.)
• 12% of Telefônica Brasil is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Telefônica Brasil S.A. (BVMF:VIVT3), 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 public companies with 76% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 12% of the company's stockholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Telefônica Brasil, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Telefônica Brasil

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Telefônica Brasil?

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.

Telefônica Brasil 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Telefônica Brasil's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Telefônica Brasil. The company's largest shareholder is Telefónica, S.A., with ownership of 76%. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 1.8% of common stock, and Artisan Partners Limited Partnership holds about 1.3% of the company stock.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Telefônica Brasil

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 76% of Telefônica Brasil. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

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 example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Telefônica Brasil that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.