Institutions along with private companies who hold considerable shares inVitania Ltd. (TLV:VTNA) come under pressure; lose 10% of holdings value

Key Insights

• Vitania's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• Talcar Corporation Ltd. owns 55% of the company
• Insiders own 12% of Vitania

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If you want to know who really controls Vitania Ltd. (TLV:VTNA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 57% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While institutions who own 18% came under pressure after market cap dropped to ₪1.1b last week,private companies took the most losses.

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

View our latest analysis for Vitania

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vitania?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Vitania. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Vitania's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Vitania is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is Talcar Corporation Ltd., with ownership of 55%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 Vitania

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. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Vitania Ltd.. Insiders own ₪136m worth of shares in the ₪1.1b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 57%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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. Be aware that Vitania is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit concerning...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free 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.