Institutional owners may take dramatic actions as Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VYGR) recent 15% drop adds to one-year losses

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Voyager Therapeutics implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• The top 16 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

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Every investor in Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VYGR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 44% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. 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$265m last week after a 15% drop in the share price. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 31% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Often called “market movers", institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. Hence, if weakness in Voyager Therapeutics' share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.

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

See our latest analysis for Voyager Therapeutics

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Voyager Therapeutics?

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.

Voyager Therapeutics 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 Voyager Therapeutics, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It looks like hedge funds own 16% of Voyager Therapeutics shares. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 10%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.7% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 7.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 16 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Voyager Therapeutics

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 Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$3.5m worth of the US$265m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 39% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Voyager Therapeutics (including 1 which can'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.