Heineken Holding N.V.'s (AMS:HEIO) 6.2% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 53% as well as institutions

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Heineken Holding indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• L'Arche Green N.V. owns 53% of the company
• 30% of Heineken Holding is held by Institutions

Every investor in Heineken Holding N.V. (AMS:HEIO) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 53% ownership. 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 6.2% price drop, institutions with their 30% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Heineken Holding.

See our latest analysis for Heineken Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Heineken Holding?

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 Heineken Holding. 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. 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 Heineken Holding's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Heineken Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is L'Arche Green N.V. with 53% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. With 5.0% and 3.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Lindsell Train Limited and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust are the second and third largest shareholders.

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. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Heineken Holding

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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 information suggests that Heineken Holding N.V. insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own €62m of stock. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Heineken Holding. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 53%, of the Heineken Holding 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:

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 Heineken Holding .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.