Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd implies vested interests in company growth
• The top 7 shareholders own 51% of the company
• 15% of Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Kunshan TopA Intelligent Equipment Co.,Ltd (SZSE:300836), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 44% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by CN¥836m last week.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd?

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 Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd 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. 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 Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Chaopeng Xiao with 25% of shares outstanding. Lihua Zhu is the second largest shareholder owning 8.1% of common stock, and Tuanlin Liu holds about 5.9% of the company stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Lihua Zhu is also Chief Financial Officer, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 Kunshan TopA Intelligent Equipment Co.,Ltd. Insiders have a CN¥1.2b stake in this CN¥2.8b business. 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

With a 39% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. Be aware that Kunshan TopA Intelligent EquipmentLtd is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.