With a 50% stake, Virbac SA (EPA:VIRP) insiders have a lot riding on the company

Key Insights

• Virbac's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• 50% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Marie-Helene Dick-Madelpuech)
• 18% of Virbac is held by Institutions

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Virbac SA (EPA:VIRP), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 50% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

So it follows, every decision made by insiders of Virbac regarding the company's future would be crucial to them.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Virbac.

Check out our latest analysis for Virbac

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Virbac?

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Virbac. Our data shows that Marie-Helene Dick-Madelpuech is the largest shareholder with 50% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 2.0% and 1.5% of the stock.

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

Insider Ownership Of Virbac

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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Virbac SA. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. That means insiders have a very meaningful €1.5b stake in this €3.0b business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to discover if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in Virbac. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.

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.

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.