Offcn Education Technology Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002607) market cap rose CN¥1.4b last week; retail investors who hold 56% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• Offcn Education Technology's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 43% ownership
• Insider ownership in Offcn Education Technology is 26%

If you want to know who really controls Offcn Education Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002607), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 56% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 7.1% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but insiders who own 26% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Offcn Education Technology.

See our latest analysis for Offcn Education Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Offcn Education Technology?

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 Offcn Education Technology. 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. 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 Offcn Education Technology, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Offcn Education Technology. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Yongxin Li with 15% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.5% and 5.0% of the stock. Zhendong Wang, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

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 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Offcn Education Technology

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Offcn Education Technology Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥5.6b worth of shares in the CN¥21b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. 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 substantial 56% stake in Offcn Education Technology, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 5.0%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Offcn Education Technology better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - Offcn Education Technology has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

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.