Following recent decline, Nayax Ltd.'s (TLV:NYAX) top shareholder CEO Yair Nechmad sees holdings value drop by 9.5%

Key Insights

• Nayax's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion
• A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 67% ownership
• Institutions own 19% of Nayax

A look at the shareholders of Nayax Ltd. (TLV:NYAX) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 67% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And following last week's 9.5% decline in share price, insiders suffered the most losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Nayax

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nayax?

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

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Nayax. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Yair Nechmad with 25% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 22% and 21%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the second and third-largest shareholders also happen to be the Top Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. This once again signifies considerable insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Nayax

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.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Nayax Ltd.. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own ₪2.1b worth of shares in the ₪3.1b 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in Nayax. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Nayax you should know about.

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.