Key Insights

• Significant control over Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 51% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders
• 29% of Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Suzhou Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:688266), 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 31% 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 benefitted the most from last week's CN¥744m market cap gain, insiders too had a 29% share in those profits.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd. 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. 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 Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd. The company's CEO Zelin Sheng is the largest shareholder with 23% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.2% and 4.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Huiping Lu is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 11 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Suzhou Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals Co.,Ltd.. It has a market capitalization of just CN¥15b, and insiders have CN¥4.5b worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 15%, of the Suzhou Zelgen BiopharmaceuticalsLtd stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.