Do Institutions Own MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (ETR:MRK) Shares?

If you want to know who really controls MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (ETR:MRK), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.

With a market capitalization of €76b, MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien is rather large. We'd expect to see institutional investors on the register. Companies of this size are usually well known to retail investors, too. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien.

See our latest analysis for MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien?

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.

We can see that MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien 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. 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 MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is E. Merck KG, with ownership of 54%. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 1.7% and 0.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a 33% stake in MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 54%, of the company's shares. 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. Be aware that MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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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