Prestige BioPharma Limited's (KRX:950210) biggest owners are private companies who got richer after stock soared 21% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Prestige BioPharma by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 53% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Prestige BioPharma is 30%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Prestige BioPharma Limited (KRX:950210), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 38% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, private companies collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₩140b market cap following a 21% gain in the stock.

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

See our latest analysis for Prestige BioPharma

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Prestige BioPharma?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to funds under management, so the institution does not bother to look closely at the company. On the other hand, it's always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don't think it's the best place for their money. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Prestige BioPharma, for yourself, below.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Prestige BioPharma. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Mayson Partners Pte. Ltd. with 22% of shares outstanding. With 16% and 15% of the shares outstanding respectively, Octava Fund Limited and So-Yeon Park are the second and third largest shareholders. So-Yeon Park, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Prestige BioPharma

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 Prestige BioPharma Limited. Insiders have a ₩42b stake in this ₩140b business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 32% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 38%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

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 3 warning signs we've spotted with Prestige BioPharma .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.

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