Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft's (ETR:BMW) market cap up €2.4b last week, benefiting both individual investors who own 38% as well as insiders

Key Insights

• Significant control over Bayerische Motoren Werke by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 7 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders own 36% of Bayerische Motoren Werke

Every investor in Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BMW) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 38% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 4.2% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but insiders who own 36% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Bayerische Motoren Werke, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Bayerische Motoren Werke

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bayerische Motoren Werke?

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.

Bayerische Motoren Werke 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Bayerische Motoren Werke, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Bayerische Motoren Werke. Our data shows that Susanne Klatten is the largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. With 16% and 8.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Stefan Quandt and AQTON SE are the second and third largest shareholders.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Bayerische Motoren Werke

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft. Insiders own €21b worth of shares in the €58b company. That's quite meaningful. 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 38% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bayerische Motoren Werke better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Bayerische Motoren Werke you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.