Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Samsara's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 52% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 40% to be precise, is individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And insiders own the top position in the company's share registry despite recent sales.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Samsara?

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.

Samsara 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 Samsara's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Samsara. With a 19% stake, CEO Sanjit Biswas is the largest shareholder. With 18% and 9.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, John Bicket and Andreessen Horowitz LLC are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, John Bicket is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 52% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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 Samsara

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.

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Samsara Inc.. Insiders own US$10b worth of shares in the US$26b company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 11% stake in Samsara. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 9.3% stake in Samsara. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Samsara better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Samsara .

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.