While institutions own 42% of SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI), individual investors are its largest shareholders with 56% ownership

Key Insights

• Significant control over SoFi Technologies by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 33% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 42% of SoFi Technologies is held by Institutions

Every investor in SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 56% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, institutions make up 42% of the company’s shareholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.

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

See our latest analysis for SoFi Technologies

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SoFi Technologies?

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 SoFi Technologies does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 SoFi Technologies, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in SoFi Technologies. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 8.4%. With 4.3% and 2.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Anthony Noto directly holds 0.8% of the total shares outstanding.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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

Insider Ownership Of SoFi Technologies

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. 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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in SoFi Technologies, Inc.. It is a very large company, and board members collectively own US$155m worth of shares (at current prices). we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 56% stake in SoFi Technologies, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for SoFi Technologies that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.