individual investors who own 42% along with institutions invested in Sysmex Corporation (TSE:6869) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Sysmex indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 21 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Institutions own 37% of Sysmex

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If you want to know who really controls Sysmex Corporation (TSE:6869), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 42% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While individual investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 5.5% price gain, institutions also received a 37% cut.

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

See our latest analysis for Sysmex

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sysmex?

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.

Sysmex already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Sysmex, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Sysmex. The company's largest shareholder is Nakatani Foundation, with ownership of 6.2%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.8% and 5.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 21 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Sysmex

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Sysmex Corporation. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth JP¥84b. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Sysmex. 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 7.8%, of the Sysmex stock. 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:

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

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.

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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.