Ascentage Pharma Group International's (HKG:6855) 6.3% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 60% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Ascentage Pharma Group International indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 40% of the company
• 13% of Ascentage Pharma Group International is held by insiders

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Ascentage Pharma Group International (HKG:6855), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 60% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While the holdings of retail investors took a hit after last week’s 6.3% price drop, institutions with their 17% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Ascentage Pharma Group International.

Check out our latest analysis for Ascentage Pharma Group International

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ascentage Pharma Group International?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Ascentage Pharma Group International. 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. 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 Ascentage Pharma Group International's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Ascentage Pharma Group International is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, with ownership of 6.6%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.3% and 4.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Dajun Yang, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Ascentage Pharma Group International

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Ascentage Pharma Group International. Insiders own HK$2.9b worth of shares in the HK$23b company. That's quite meaningful. 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, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 60% of Ascentage Pharma Group International shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 3.8%, of the company's shares. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 6.6% of Ascentage Pharma Group International stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Ascentage Pharma Group International has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.

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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.