Individual investors invested in Anhui Wantong Technology Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002331) copped the brunt of last week's CN¥451m market cap decline

Key Insights

• Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 24 investors have a majority stake in the company with 48% ownership
• Insider ownership in Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd is 10%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Anhui Wantong Technology Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002331), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 52% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, individual investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by CN¥451m.

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

See our latest analysis for Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd?

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.

Less than 5% of Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. So if the company itself can improve over time, we may well see more institutional buyers in the future. 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 Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd. Our data shows that Tibet Jingyuan Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Sanbian Sci Tech Co., Ltd. and Fujian Guangju Information Technology Services Co., Ltd., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 5.0%.

Our studies suggest that the top 24 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. 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 Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Anhui Wantong Technology Co.,Ltd.. Insiders have a CN¥330m stake in this CN¥3.3b business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd. 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 Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 28%, of the company's shares. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 5.0% of the Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Anhui Wantong TechnologyLtd .

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.