Individual investors who have a significant stake must be disappointed along with institutions after Vitec Software Group AB (publ)'s (STO:VIT B) market cap dropped by kr886m

Key Insights

• Significant control over Vitec Software Group by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 17 shareholders
• Insiders have bought recently

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If you want to know who really controls Vitec Software Group AB (publ) (STO:VIT B), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 46% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 42% shares weren’t spared from last week’s kr886m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Vitec Software Group.

Check out our latest analysis for Vitec Software Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vitec Software Group?

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 Vitec Software Group. 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 Vitec Software Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Vitec Software Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is SEB Investment Management AB with 5.3% of shares outstanding. With 5.0% and 4.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Cliens Kapitalförvaltning AB and Capital Research and Management Company are the second and third largest shareholders.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 17 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Vitec Software Group

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Vitec Software Group AB (publ). Insiders own kr1.7b worth of shares in the kr14b company. That's quite meaningful. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 46% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Vitec Software Group .

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.