Positive week for Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) institutional investors who lost 5.6% over the past year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Bilibili's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Insiders own 21% of Bilibili

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 45% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 6.9% increase in the share price after a year of 5.6% losses as a sign that returns may to begin trending higher.

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

View our latest analysis for Bilibili

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bilibili?

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.

We can see that Bilibili does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Bilibili's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Bilibili is not owned by hedge funds. With a 12% stake, CEO Rui Chen is the largest shareholder. With 11% and 6.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Tencent Holdings Limited and Yi Xu are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Yi Xu is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

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

Insider Ownership Of Bilibili

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. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Bilibili Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$5.8b, and insiders have US$1.2b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 24% 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 11% of Bilibili stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

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.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.