Despite recent sales, Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN) insiders still hold the largest share with a 65% interest

Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Asana implies vested interests in company growth
• Dustin Moskovitz owns 54% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 65% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Despite recent sales, insiders own the most shares in the company.

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

See our latest analysis for Asana

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Asana?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Asana. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Asana's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Asana is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Dustin Moskovitz with 54% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have significant control over the outcome or future of the company, which is why insider ownership is usually looked upon favourably by prospective buyers. Justin Rosenstein is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 4.1% of the company stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Justin Rosenstein is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

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 Asana

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of Asana, Inc.. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Insiders own US$2.8b worth of shares in the US$4.3b company. That's extraordinary! Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 12% 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Asana has 4 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

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.