Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 35% ownership
• 31% of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China is held by Institutions

Every investor in Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (SHSE:601318) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are retail investors with 57% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Following a 3.5% increase in the stock price last week, retail investors profited the most, but institutions who own 31% stock also stood to gain from the increase.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China?

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.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd with 5.3% of shares outstanding. China Securities Finance Corp, Asset Management Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 3.0% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 2.6% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where 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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China

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.

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 less than 1% of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own CN¥680m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 57% of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 4.3%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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.