What Is The Ownership Structure Like For ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP)?

If you want to know who really controls ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.

With a market capitalization of US$603m, ZIOPHARM Oncology is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about ZIOPHARM Oncology.

Check out our latest analysis for ZIOPHARM Oncology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ZIOPHARM Oncology?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

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

It would appear that 7.1% of ZIOPHARM Oncology 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. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 7.2%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.1% and 7.0% of the stock. Furthermore, CEO Laurence James Cooper is the owner of 0.9% of the company's shares.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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 ZIOPHARM Oncology

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$603m, and insiders have US$19m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over ZIOPHARM Oncology. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for ZIOPHARM Oncology you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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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