Wheels Up Experience Inc.'s (NYSE:UP) 15% loss last week hit both individual investors who own 40% as well as institutions

Every investor in Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 40% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

While institutions, who own 31% shares weren’t spared from last week’s US$59m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Wheels Up Experience.

Our analysis indicates that UP is potentially overvalued!

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wheels Up Experience?

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 Wheels Up Experience does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Wheels Up Experience's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Wheels Up Experience is not owned by hedge funds. Delta Air Lines, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 21% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are BlackRock, Inc. and FMR LLC, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 5.3%. Additionally, the company's CEO Kenneth Dichter directly holds 5.2% of the total shares outstanding.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 14 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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

Insider Ownership Of Wheels Up Experience

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 some shares in Wheels Up Experience Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$27m worth of stock in the US$344m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Wheels Up Experience. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 21% of Wheels Up Experience stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Wheels Up Experience better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Wheels Up Experience 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.