PolyPeptide Group AG's (VTX:PPGN) market cap surged CHF56m last week, private companies who have a lot riding on the company were rewarded

Key Insights

• Significant control over PolyPeptide Group by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 56% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Draupnir Holding B.V.)
• 16% of PolyPeptide Group is held by Institutions

Every investor in PolyPeptide Group AG (VTX:PPGN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 56% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CHF955m market cap following a 6.2% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for PolyPeptide Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PolyPeptide Group?

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.

PolyPeptide Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 PolyPeptide Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

PolyPeptide Group is not owned by hedge funds. Draupnir Holding B.V. is currently the largest shareholder, with 56% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Premier Fund Managers Ltd. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.2% of common stock, and Rudolf Maag holds about 3.3% of the company stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Juan Gonzalez directly holds 0.7% of the total shares outstanding.

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 PolyPeptide Group

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in PolyPeptide Group AG. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CHF42m worth of shares (at current prices). 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in PolyPeptide Group. 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 PolyPeptide Group stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for PolyPeptide Group you should know about.

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.