Insiders the biggest winners as Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:301512) market cap rises to CN¥2.2b

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument implies vested interests in company growth
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

If you want to know who really controls Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument Co., Ltd. (SZSE:301512), 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 individual insiders with 52% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 12% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument.

See our latest analysis for Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument?

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 Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument is not owned by hedge funds. Xiaohua Li is currently the company's largest shareholder with 31% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.3% by the third-largest shareholder. Guojun Zhang, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors. Furthermore, CEO Mingyuan Zhu is the owner of 6.7% of the company's shares.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument

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.

It seems that insiders own more than half the Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument Co., Ltd. stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of CN¥2.2b, that means they have CN¥1.2b worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 20% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 12%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 9.2%, 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Shenzhen Intelligent Precision Instrument (at least 1 which shouldn't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.