Both retail investors who control a good portion of Ambu A/S (CPH:AMBU B) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 6.1% decrease

Key Insights

• Ambu's significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 13 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 25% of Ambu is held by insiders

Every investor in Ambu A/S (CPH:AMBU B) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 41% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While institutions, who own 34% shares weren’t spared from last week’s kr.2.3b market cap drop, retail investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

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

Check out our latest analysis for Ambu

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ambu?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Ambu 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 Ambu, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Ambu is not owned by hedge funds. Niels Louis-Hansen is currently the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding. Baillie Gifford & Co. is the second largest shareholder owning 7.7% of common stock, and Capital Research and Management Company holds about 4.7% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 13 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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 Ambu

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 Ambu A/S. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful kr.8.8b stake in this kr.35b business. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 41% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Ambu. 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.

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Ambu .

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.