Key Insights

• Significant control over Guangdong Aofei Data Technology by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 20 shareholders own 50% of the company
• Institutions own 12% of Guangdong Aofei Data Technology

Every investor in Guangdong Aofei Data Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300738) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 49% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As market cap fell to CN¥9.6b last week, individual investors would have faced the highest losses than any other shareholder groups of the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Guangdong Aofei Data Technology, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Guangdong Aofei Data Technology?

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.

We can see that Guangdong Aofei Data Technology 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. 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 Guangdong Aofei Data Technology's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Guangdong Aofei Data Technology is not owned by hedge funds. Guangzhou Haomeng Computer Technology Co., Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 28% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.6% and 3.6% of the stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 20 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Guangdong Aofei Data Technology

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.

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 Guangdong Aofei Data Technology Co., Ltd.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CN¥919m 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

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 49% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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

It seems that Private Companies own 29%, of the Guangdong Aofei Data Technology 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:

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 3 warning signs we've spotted with Guangdong Aofei Data Technology (including 2 which don't sit too well with us) .

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.

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