Private companies among A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S' (CPH:MAERSK B) largest stockholders and were hit after last week's 4.4% price drop

Key Insights

• A.P. Møller - Mærsk's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• 27% of A.P. Møller - Mærsk is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S (CPH:MAERSK B), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 46% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And last week, private companies endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 4.4%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of A.P. Møller - Mærsk.

See our latest analysis for A.P. Møller - Mærsk

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About A.P. Møller - Mærsk?

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.

A.P. Møller - Mærsk already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 A.P. Møller - Mærsk, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in A.P. Møller - Mærsk. Our data shows that Møller Holding A/S is the largest shareholder with 46% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 4.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 57% stake.

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 A.P. Møller - Mærsk

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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 data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. Given we are not picking up on insider ownership, we may have missing data. Therefore, it would be interesting to assess the CEO compensation and tenure, here.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 46%, of the A.P. Møller - Mærsk stock. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand A.P. Møller - Mærsk better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for A.P. Møller - Mærsk (2 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

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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.