Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in IVD Medical Holding's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

If you want to know who really controls IVD Medical Holding Limited (HKG:1931), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 37% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by HK$585m last week.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About IVD Medical Holding?

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.

We can see that IVD Medical Holding 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. 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 IVD Medical Holding, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

IVD Medical Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Shinva Medical Instrument Co.,Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 27% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are King Sun Leung and Kuk Sing Ho, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 11%. Kuk Sing Ho, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. 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 IVD Medical Holding

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in IVD Medical Holding Limited. It has a market capitalization of just HK$1.8b, and insiders have HK$643m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 28% stake in IVD Medical Holding. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 27% of IVD Medical Holding stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand IVD Medical Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for IVD Medical Holding (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.