Moltiply Group S.p.A.'s (BIT:MOL) market cap rose €52m last week; private companies who hold 40% profited and so did insiders

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Moltiply Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 56% ownership
• 23% of Moltiply Group is held by insiders

Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

If you want to know who really controls Moltiply Group S.p.A. (BIT:MOL), 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 40% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Private companies gained the most after market cap touched €1.7b last week, while insiders who own 23% also benefitted.

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

See our latest analysis for Moltiply Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Moltiply Group?

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.

We can see that Moltiply Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Moltiply Group'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 Moltiply Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Alma Ventures S.A. with 36% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 20% and 4.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Alessandro Alvaro Fracassi, the CEO has 0.8% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Moltiply Group

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Moltiply Group S.p.A.. It has a market capitalization of just €1.7b, and insiders have €387m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. 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

With a 22% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Moltiply Group. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 40%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Moltiply Group .

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.