Institutions along with private companies who hold considerable shares inWirtualna Polska Holding S.A. (WSE:WPL) come under pressure; lose 7.7% of holdings value

Key Insights

• Wirtualna Polska Holding's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 57% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Wirtualna Polska Holding is 34%

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A. (WSE:WPL), 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.

While institutions, who own 34% shares weren’t spared from last week’s zł213m market cap drop, private companies as a group suffered the maximum losses

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

View our latest analysis for Wirtualna Polska Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wirtualna Polska 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.

We can see that Wirtualna Polska Holding does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Wirtualna Polska Holding's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Wirtualna Polska Holding. Allianz Asset Management GmbH is currently the company's largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Orfe Sa and 10x S.A., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 13%.

On looking further, we found that 57% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Wirtualna Polska Holding

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 28% stake in Wirtualna Polska Holding. 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. 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:

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.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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.