Meyer Burger Technology AG's (VTX:MBTN) 24% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 48% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Meyer Burger Technology's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 47% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 42% of Meyer Burger Technology is held by Institutions

Every investor in Meyer Burger Technology AG (VTX:MBTN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 48% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 42% shares weren’t spared from last week’s CHF94m market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Meyer Burger Technology, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Meyer Burger Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Meyer Burger Technology?

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.

We can see that Meyer Burger Technology does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Meyer Burger Technology'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 Meyer Burger Technology. Sentis Capital PCC is currently the company's largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.1% and 3.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

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 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 Meyer Burger Technology

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

Our information suggests that Meyer Burger Technology AG insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It has a market capitalization of just CHF293m, and the board has only CHF2.0m worth of shares in their own names. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 48% stake in Meyer Burger Technology. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 10%, 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:

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. Be aware that Meyer Burger Technology is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.