GDEV Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GDEV) largest shareholders are private companies who were rewarded as market cap surged US$60m last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over GDEV by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 63% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders
• 28% of GDEV is held by insiders

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If you want to know who really controls GDEV Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEV), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that private companies own the lion's share in the company with 41% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of last week’s 16% gain.

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

View our latest analysis for GDEV

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About GDEV?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don't own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to funds under management, so the institution does not bother to look closely at the company. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. GDEV might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely.

GDEV is not owned by hedge funds. Everix Investments Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 41% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 22% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.5% by the third-largest shareholder. Andrey Fadeev, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 63% stake.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of GDEV

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.

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 a reasonable proportion of GDEV Inc.. Insiders own US$126m worth of shares in the US$444m company. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those 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 group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 41%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand GDEV better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for GDEV you should know about.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.