Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.'s (NYSE:OPY) most bullish insider is CEO Albert Lowenthal, and their holdings value went up by 9.3% last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Oppenheimer Holdings' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• The top 4 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Institutions own 36% of Oppenheimer Holdings

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OPY), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 44% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit US$712m market cap following a 9.3% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Oppenheimer Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Oppenheimer Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oppenheimer Holdings?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Oppenheimer Holdings. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Oppenheimer Holdings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Oppenheimer Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. The company's CEO Albert Lowenthal is the largest shareholder with 33% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.6% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Oppenheimer Holdings

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.. Insiders have a US$311m stake in this US$712m business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 21% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Oppenheimer Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Oppenheimer Holdings you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.