Both retail investors who control a good portion of Xspray Pharma AB (publ) (STO:XSPRAY) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 57% decrease

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Xspray Pharma indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 6 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 36% of Xspray Pharma is held by Institutions

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of Xspray Pharma AB (publ) (STO:XSPRAY), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 36% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 57% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 36% stock also took a hit.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Xspray Pharma

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Xspray Pharma?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Xspray Pharma. 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 Xspray Pharma's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Xspray Pharma. Our data shows that Flerie AB (publ) is the largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. Ribbskottet AB is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Östersjöstiftelsen holds about 10% of the company stock.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Xspray Pharma

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Xspray Pharma AB (publ). It has a market capitalization of just kr1.1b, and insiders have kr42m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 36% stake in Xspray Pharma. 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 Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 13%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 11%, of the Xspray Pharma 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. Be aware that Xspray Pharma is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are potentially serious...

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.