Qt Group Oyj's (HEL:QTCOM) market cap touched €1.9b last week, benefiting both retail investors who own 37% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• Significant control over Qt Group Oyj by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 12 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Qt Group Oyj (HEL:QTCOM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 4.5% price gain, institutions also received a 33% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Qt Group Oyj.

View our latest analysis for Qt Group Oyj

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qt Group Oyj?

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.

Qt Group Oyj already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Qt Group Oyj's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Qt Group Oyj is not owned by hedge funds. Ingman Group Oy Ab is currently the company's largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. With 6.0% and 4.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Ilmarinen Pension Insurance Co. Ltd, Asset Management Arm and Citigroup Inc.,Banking and Securities Investments are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that Juha Varelius, the CEO has 1.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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 Qt Group Oyj

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Qt Group Oyj. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own €158m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in Qt Group Oyj. 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 22%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Qt Group Oyj better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Qt Group Oyj you should know about.

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.

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.