Key Insights

• Frontier Biotechnologies' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 50% of the business is held by the top 16 shareholders
• Insider ownership in Frontier Biotechnologies is 16%

Every investor in Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. (SHSE:688221) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 48% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors were the biggest beneficiaries of last week's 18% gain.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Frontier Biotechnologies.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Frontier Biotechnologies?

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

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Frontier Biotechnologies. Our data shows that Baobab Pharmaceuticals Limited is the largest shareholder with 19% of shares outstanding. With 5.8% and 5.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, Rongjian Lu and Changjin Wang are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the bottom two of the top three shareholders also hold the title of Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively, suggesting that these insiders have a personal stake in the company.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 16 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Frontier Biotechnologies

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Frontier Biotechnologies Inc.. Insiders own CN¥397m worth of shares in the CN¥2.5b company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 48% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 29%, of the Frontier Biotechnologies stock. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Frontier Biotechnologies (including 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) .

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com