Prosus N.V.'s (AMS:PRX) largest shareholders are public companies with 45% ownership, individual investors own 28%

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by public companies in Prosus indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 4 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

Every investor in Prosus N.V. (AMS:PRX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is public companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 28% ownership in the company.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Prosus

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Prosus?

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.

We can see that Prosus 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. 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 Prosus, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Prosus is not owned by hedge funds. Naspers Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 45% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.3% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 Prosus

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Prosus N.V.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth €748m. Most would say this shows a good 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 28% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Prosus. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 45% of Prosus stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Prosus (2 can't be ignored) that 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.