Datadog, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DDOG) large institutional owners must be happy as stock continues to impress, up 3.8% over the past week

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Datadog's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 24 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

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Every investor in Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 79% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 3.8% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 28% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Datadog

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Datadog?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Datadog 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. 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 Datadog's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Datadog. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.3% of shares outstanding. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.8% of common stock, and Baillie Gifford & Co. holds about 3.6% of the company stock. Furthermore, CEO Olivier Pomel is the owner of 2.5% of the company's shares.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 24 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% 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 Datadog

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.

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 report that insiders do own shares in Datadog, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$3.9b. Most would say this shows a good alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Datadog. 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 Datadog better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Datadog .

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.