With a 46% stake, NetEase, Inc. (HKG:9999) insiders have a lot riding on the company

Key Insights

• NetEase's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• The top 3 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Institutions own 34% of NetEase

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of NetEase, Inc. (HKG:9999), 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 individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.

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

View our latest analysis for NetEase

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About NetEase?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in NetEase. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see NetEase's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in NetEase. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Lei Ding with 46% of shares outstanding. Capital Research and Management Company is the second largest shareholder owning 3.3% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 2.7% of the company stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of 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 NetEase

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of NetEase, Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful HK$296b stake in this HK$646b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% 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.

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 always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.