retail investors who own 52% along with institutions invested in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) saw increase in their holdings value last week

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 39% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• 40% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 52% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 5.0% price gain, institutions also received a 40% cut.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. 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 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 5.7% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 6.3% of shares outstanding. Tang Capital Management, LLC is the second largest shareholder owning 5.9% of common stock, and Armistice Capital LLC holds about 5.7% of the company stock.

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.

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

Insider Ownership Of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$17m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 52% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares. 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.

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 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.