Cibus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBUS) surges 21%; retail investors who own 43% shares profited along with institutions

Key Insights

• Significant control over Cibus by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 50% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
• 23% of Cibus is held by insiders

Every investor in Cibus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBUS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 21% price gain, institutions also received a 32% cut.

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

View our latest analysis for Cibus

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cibus?

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 Cibus 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. 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 Cibus' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Cibus. With a 14% stake, CEO Rory Riggs is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 13% and 6.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Jean-Pierre Lehmann is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% 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 Cibus

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Cibus, Inc.. Insiders own US$24m worth of shares in the US$106m 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

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 43% stake in Cibus. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

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. Be aware that Cibus is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

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.