Suzhou Highfine Biotech Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:301393) CEO Yong Zhu is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 11% last week

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Suzhou Highfine Biotech implies vested interests in company growth
• The top 2 shareholders own 53% of the company
• Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

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A look at the shareholders of Suzhou Highfine Biotech Co., Ltd. (SZSE:301393) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 59% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥5.0b market cap following a 11% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Suzhou Highfine Biotech.

View our latest analysis for Suzhou Highfine Biotech

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzhou Highfine Biotech?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in Suzhou Highfine Biotech. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Suzhou Highfine Biotech. With a 48% stake, CEO Yong Zhu is the largest shareholder. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.9% and 4.5% of the stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Xu Jie is also Senior Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% stake.

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. 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 Suzhou Highfine Biotech

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 information suggests that insiders own more than half of Suzhou Highfine Biotech Co., Ltd.. This gives them effective control of the company. So they have a CN¥2.9b stake in this CN¥5.0b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 30% stake in Suzhou Highfine Biotech. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 6.8%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private 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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.