Berry Genomics Co.,Ltd's (SZSE:000710) 34% gain last week benefited both retail investors who own 57% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over Berry GenomicsLtd by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 43% ownership
• 15% of Berry GenomicsLtd is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Berry Genomics Co.,Ltd (SZSE:000710), 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 retail investors with 57% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 34% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but insiders who own 15% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

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

View our latest analysis for Berry GenomicsLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Berry GenomicsLtd?

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 Berry GenomicsLtd does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Berry GenomicsLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Berry GenomicsLtd. The company's largest shareholder is Chengdu Tianxing Instrument (Group) Co., Ltd., with ownership of 12%. With 9.0% and 8.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Yang Gao and Hongling Siqi (Zhuhai) Equity Investment Management Enterprise (Limited Partnership) are the second and third largest shareholders. Yang Gao, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Berry GenomicsLtd

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Berry Genomics Co.,Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥6.1b, and insiders have CN¥911m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. 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 57% stake in Berry GenomicsLtd, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 8.5%, private equity firms could influence the Berry GenomicsLtd board. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 13%, of the Berry GenomicsLtd stock. 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:

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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Berry GenomicsLtd you should be aware of.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.