Private companies invested in Moltiply Group S.p.A. (BIT:MOL) copped the brunt of last week's €80m market cap decline

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Moltiply Group indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 56% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• Insiders own 23% of Moltiply Group

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. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 40% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of private companies took a hit after last week’s 5.9% price drop, insiders with their 23% also suffered.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Moltiply Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Moltiply Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Moltiply Group. 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. 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 Moltiply Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Moltiply Group. Alma Ventures S.A. is currently the company's largest shareholder 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.

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.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Moltiply Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 Moltiply Group S.p.A.. Insiders own €298m worth of shares in the €1.3b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 21% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Moltiply Group. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 40%, of the Moltiply Group 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Moltiply Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Moltiply Group 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.