Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RXRX) recent 23% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Recursion Pharmaceuticals' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• A total of 11 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RXRX) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 75% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And so it follows that institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$3.5b last week after a 23% drop in the share price. This set of investors may especially be concerned about the current loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 48% for shareholders. Often called “market movers", institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. As a result, if the decline continues, institutional investors may be pressured to sell Recursion Pharmaceuticals which might hurt individual investors.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Recursion Pharmaceuticals.

Check out our latest analysis for Recursion Pharmaceuticals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Recursion Pharmaceuticals?

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.

Recursion Pharmaceuticals already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. 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 Recursion Pharmaceuticals, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Recursion Pharmaceuticals. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 8.6% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.2% and 6.3% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Christopher Gibson directly holds 1.8% of the total shares outstanding.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Recursion Pharmaceuticals

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. 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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$171m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Recursion Pharmaceuticals better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with Recursion Pharmaceuticals (at least 2 which are a bit concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.