SentinelOne, Inc.'s (NYSE:S) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 7.8% over last week

Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in SentinelOne implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
• 51% of the business is held by the top 16 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 74% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit US$7.8b in market cap. The one-year return on investment is currently 45% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

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

Check out our latest analysis for SentinelOne

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SentinelOne?

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.

SentinelOne already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 SentinelOne, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in SentinelOne. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc. with 9.0% of shares outstanding. With 7.6% and 6.2% of the shares outstanding respectively, Insight Venture Management, LLC and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that Tomer Weingarten, the CEO has 1.5% of the shares allocated to their name.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 16 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of SentinelOne

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in SentinelOne, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$180m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over SentinelOne. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 7.6% stake in SentinelOne. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for SentinelOne that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.