Celadon Pharmaceuticals Plc's (LON:CEL) CEO James Short is the most upbeat insider, and their holdings increased by 162% last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Celadon Pharmaceuticals' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• Institutions own 13% of Celadon Pharmaceuticals

A look at the shareholders of Celadon Pharmaceuticals Plc (LON:CEL) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 69% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit UK£86m market cap following a 162% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Celadon Pharmaceuticals.

Check out our latest analysis for Celadon Pharmaceuticals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Celadon Pharmaceuticals?

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.

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Celadon Pharmaceuticals. The company's CEO James Short is the largest shareholder with 50% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Paul Allen and John Mitchell, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 7.3%.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Celadon Pharmaceuticals

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Celadon Pharmaceuticals Plc. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own UK£59m worth of shares in the UK£86m company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 14% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 5.1%, of the Celadon Pharmaceuticals 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Celadon Pharmaceuticals .

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.