VZ Holding AG's (VTX:VZN) market cap touched CHF5.8b last week, benefiting both private companies who own 56% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in VZ Holding indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The largest shareholder of the company is Madarex AG with a 56% stake
• Institutional ownership in VZ Holding is 21%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of VZ Holding AG (VTX:VZN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 56% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Private companies gained the most after market cap touched CHF5.8b last week, while institutions who own 21% also benefitted.

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

See our latest analysis for VZ Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About VZ Holding?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in VZ Holding. 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 VZ Holding's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in VZ Holding. Our data shows that Madarex AG is the largest shareholder with 56% 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 6.1% and 4.0% of the stock.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of VZ Holding

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in VZ Holding AG. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth CHF410m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over VZ Holding. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 56%, of the VZ Holding stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.