Insiders have been selling Airship AI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AISP) recently yet still hold a significant stake; 29% drop last week not ideal

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Airship AI Holdings implies vested interests in company growth
• The top 7 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Insiders have been selling lately

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Airship AI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AISP), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 46% stake, individual insiders 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 our data suggests that insiders own the top position in the company’s share registry despite recent sales. Following last week's 29% decline in share price, the group also suffered the most losses.

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

See our latest analysis for Airship AI Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Airship AI Holdings?

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.

We can see that Airship AI Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Airship AI Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Airship AI Holdings. Our data suggests that Derek Xu, who is also the company's Top Key Executive, holds the most number of shares at 27%. When an insider holds a sizeable amount of a company's stock, investors consider it as a positive sign because it suggests that insiders are willing to have their wealth tied up in the future of the company. With 12% and 4.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Victor Huang and Jane Cui are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Victor Huang is also Chief Executive Officer, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Airship AI Holdings

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Airship AI Holdings, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$159m, and insiders have US$73m worth of shares in their own names. 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 44% stake in Airship AI Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 7 warning signs we've spotted with Airship AI Holdings (including 4 which are concerning) .

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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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.