Painful week for individual investors invested in Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRDF) after 11% drop, institutions also suffered losses

Key Insights

• Significant control over Cardiff Oncology by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 37% ownership
• Institutions own 38% of Cardiff Oncology

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If you want to know who really controls Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRDF), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 60% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 11% decrease in the stock price last week, individual investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 38% stock also took a hit.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Cardiff Oncology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Cardiff Oncology?

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 Cardiff Oncology does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Cardiff Oncology, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Cardiff Oncology. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 5.9% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.3% of common stock, and Laurion Capital Management LP holds about 3.7% 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.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Cardiff Oncology

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 some shares in Cardiff Oncology, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$3.3m worth of stock in the US$137m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 60% of Cardiff Oncology. 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. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Cardiff Oncology (3 don't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.