Individual investors who hold 55% of Swissquote Group Holding Ltd (VTX:SQN) gained 6.0%, institutions profited as well

Key Insights

• Significant control over Swissquote Group Holding by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 38% of the company
• Insiders own 11% of Swissquote Group Holding

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Swissquote Group Holding Ltd (VTX:SQN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 55% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 6.0% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but institutions who own 34% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Swissquote Group Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Swissquote Group Holding?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Swissquote Group Holding already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Swissquote Group Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Swissquote Group Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Swissquote Group Holding's case, its Senior Key Executive, Paolo Buzzi, is the largest shareholder, holding 11% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.2% and 5.2% of the stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Swissquote Group Holding

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Swissquote Group Holding Ltd. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CHF641m stake in this CHF5.6b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 55% of Swissquote Group Holding shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.