ASMedia Technology Inc.'s (TWSE:5269) largest shareholders are public companies who were rewarded as market cap surged NT$6.0b last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over ASMedia Technology by public companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 22% of ASMedia Technology is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls ASMedia Technology Inc. (TWSE:5269), 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 public companies with 39% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, public companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 5.1% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ASMedia Technology.

View our latest analysis for ASMedia Technology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ASMedia Technology?

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 ASMedia Technology 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 ASMedia Technology, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

ASMedia Technology is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is ASUSTeK Computer Inc. with 33% of shares outstanding. With 6.6% and 6.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Hua Cheng Venture Capital Corporation and WT Microelectronics Co., Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Che-Wei Lin is the owner of 1.1% of the company's shares.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of ASMedia Technology

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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in ASMedia Technology Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own NT$2.2b worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 30% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 6.6%, private equity firms could influence the ASMedia Technology board. 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.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 39% of the ASMedia Technology shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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 2 warning signs for ASMedia Technology that you should be aware of.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.