While institutions invested in Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) benefited from last week's 12% gain, individual investors stood to gain the most

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Palantir Technologies indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 38% ownership
• Insiders own 10% of Palantir Technologies

Every investor in Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 53% to be precise, is individual investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While individual investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 12% price gain, institutions also received a 33% cut.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Palantir Technologies

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Palantir Technologies?

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 Palantir Technologies. 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 Palantir Technologies' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Palantir Technologies is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 7.8% of shares outstanding. Peter Thiel is the second largest shareholder owning 6.9% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 4.7% of the company stock. Peter Thiel, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive. In addition, we found that Alexander Karp, the CEO has 2.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Palantir Technologies

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Palantir Technologies Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$31b, and insiders have US$3.2b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 53% stake in Palantir Technologies, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 3.9% of Palantir Technologies. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Palantir Technologies , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.