Public companies invested in CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc. (HKG:775) copped the brunt of last week's HK$865m market cap decline

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 2 shareholders own 67% of the company
• Insiders have been selling lately

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If you want to know who really controls CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc. (HKG:775), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 45% stake, public companies possess the maximum shares in the company. 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, public companies as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by HK$865m.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings).

Check out our latest analysis for CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings)

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings)?

We don't tend to see institutional investors holding stock of companies that are very risky, thinly traded, or very small. Though we do sometimes see large companies without institutions on the register, it's not particularly common.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings) might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings). CK Hutchison Holdings Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 45% of shares outstanding. Ka-shing Li is the second largest shareholder owning 22% of common stock, and Triluck Assets Limited holds about 7.5% of the company stock.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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. 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 CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings)

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc.. Insiders own HK$1.8b worth of shares in the HK$8.1b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 25% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 7.5%, of the CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings) 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.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 45% of CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings). It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for CK Life Sciences Int'l. (Holdings) (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.