Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 2 investors have a majority stake in the company with 57% ownership
• 30% of Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300942), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is private companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While insiders, who own 30% shares weren't spared from last week's CN¥397m market cap drop, private companies as a group suffered the maximum losses

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology?

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.

Institutions have a very small stake in Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology. Shenzhen Bioeasy Holdings Co., Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 40% of shares outstanding. Hai Zhu is the second largest shareholder owning 17% of common stock, and Tianyi Wang holds about 6.6% of the company stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 57% stake.

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology

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.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology Co., Ltd.. Insiders own CN¥756m worth of shares in the CN¥2.5b company. 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

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 21% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 45%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

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.