Kunlun Tech Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:300418) 9.9% gain last week benefited both retail investors who own 51% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Kunlun Tech indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 47% ownership
• 20% of Kunlun Tech is held by insiders

Every investor in Kunlun Tech Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300418) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 51% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 9.9% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but insiders who own 20% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Kunlun Tech.

View our latest analysis for Kunlun Tech

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Kunlun Tech?

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.

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

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Kunlun Tech. The company's largest shareholder is Yahui Zhou, with ownership of 20%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 15% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.4% 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.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Kunlun Tech

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. 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.

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 a reasonable proportion of Kunlun Tech Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥7.1b worth of shares in the CN¥36b 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 51% stake in Kunlun Tech, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 15%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Kunlun Tech better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Kunlun Tech you should be aware of.

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.