Individual investors account for 44% of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:4967) ownership, while insiders account for 20%

Key Insights

• Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 13 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 20% of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical is held by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TSE:4967), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 44% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And individual insiders on the other hand have a 20% ownership in the company. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Kobayashi Pharmaceutical

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Kobayashi Pharmaceutical?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Kobayashi Pharmaceutical does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 5.5% of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical shares. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. The company's largest shareholder is Akihiro Kobayashi, with ownership of 12%. Kobayashi Foundation, Endowment Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 8.1% of common stock, and Oasis Management Company Ltd. holds about 5.5% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 13 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical

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.

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 a reasonable proportion of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful JP¥89b stake in this JP¥432b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 44% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 8.0%, of the shares on issue. 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:

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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Kobayashi Pharmaceutical that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.