Meyer Burger Technology AG's (VTX:MBTN) recent 17% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Meyer Burger Technology's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
A total of 15 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
A look at the shareholders of Meyer Burger Technology AG (VTX:MBTN) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 52% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And institutional investors saw their holdings value drop by 17% last week. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 56% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Also referred to as "smart money", institutions have a lot of sway over how a stock's price moves. As a result, if the downtrend continues, institutions may face pressures to sell Meyer Burger Technology, which might have negative implications on individual investors.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Meyer Burger Technology.
Check out our latest analysis for Meyer Burger Technology
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Meyer Burger Technology?
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.
Meyer Burger Technology already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Meyer Burger Technology's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Meyer Burger Technology is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Sentis Capital PCC with 10% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.1% and 4.6%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 15 have the combined ownership of 50% 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Meyer Burger Technology
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.
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 less than 1% of Meyer Burger Technology AG. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It seems the board members have no more than CHF5.2m worth of shares in the CHF756m company. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 37% stake in Meyer Burger Technology. 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.
Private Company Ownership
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 10%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Meyer Burger Technology that you should be aware of before investing here.
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.
