Both retail investors who control a good portion of Comet Holding AG (VTX:COTN) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 6.6% decrease

Key Insights

• Comet Holding's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 25 shareholders own 43% of the company
• 48% of Comet Holding is held by Institutions

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Every investor in Comet Holding AG (VTX:COTN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While institutions who own 48% came under pressure after market cap dropped to CHF1.3b last week,retail investors took the most losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Comet Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Comet Holding?

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 Comet Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Comet 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 Comet Holding. UBS Asset Management AG is currently the largest shareholder, with 10% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

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

Insider Ownership Of Comet Holding

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Comet Holding AG. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own CHF3.8m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 51% of Comet Holding shares. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Comet Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Comet Holding .

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.