Vicarious Surgical Inc.'s (NYSE:RBOT) stock price dropped 10% last week; individual investors would not be happy

Key Insights

• Vicarious Surgical's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The top 7 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Insiders have been selling lately

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Vicarious Surgical Inc. (NYSE:RBOT), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 29% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, individual investors as a group endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by US$12m.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Vicarious Surgical

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vicarious Surgical?

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

Vicarious Surgical is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Khosla Ventures, LLC with 17% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 8.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Adam Sachs is the owner of 6.7% of the company's shares.

We did some more digging and found that 7 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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 Vicarious Surgical

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Vicarious Surgical Inc.. Insiders own US$16m worth of shares in the US$102m company. 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 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Vicarious Surgical. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 25%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 13%, of the Vicarious Surgical stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 5 warning signs with Vicarious Surgical (at least 2 which are potentially serious) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.