Guangdong Aofei Data Technology Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:300738) stock price dropped 6.3% last week; individual investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Guangdong Aofei Data Technology indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 50% of the business is held by the top 22 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Guangdong Aofei Data Technology is 10%

If you want to know who really controls Guangdong Aofei Data Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300738), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 49% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 6.3% decline in share price, individual investors suffered the most losses.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Guangdong Aofei Data Technology.

See our latest analysis for Guangdong Aofei Data Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangdong Aofei Data 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.

Guangdong Aofei Data Technology already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Guangdong Aofei Data Technology's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Guangdong Aofei Data Technology is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Guangzhou Haomeng Computer Technology Co., Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.7% by the third-largest shareholder.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 22 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that 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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Guangdong Aofei Data 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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Guangdong Aofei Data Technology Co., Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CN¥1.1b stake in this CN¥11b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 49% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 29%, 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.

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 3 warning signs for Guangdong Aofei Data Technology you should be aware of, and 2 of them are a bit unpleasant.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.