Private companies in PolyPeptide Group AG (VTX:PPGN) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 5.7% last week

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
• The largest shareholder of the company is Draupnir Holding B.V. with a 56% stake
• 17% of PolyPeptide Group is held by Institutions

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If you want to know who really controls PolyPeptide Group AG (VTX:PPGN), 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 private companies with 56% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit CHF825m market cap following a 5.7% gain in the stock.

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

Check out our latest analysis for PolyPeptide Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About PolyPeptide Group?

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.

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

PolyPeptide Group is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Draupnir Holding B.V. with 56% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.0% and 3.3% of the stock. In addition, we found that Juan Gonzalez, the CEO has 0.7% of the shares allocated to their name.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in PolyPeptide Group AG. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around CHF36m 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

With a 22% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over 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

We can see that Private Companies own 56%, of the shares on issue. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with PolyPeptide Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.