Yahoo Finance Individual investors invested in TaskUs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASK) copped the brunt of last week's US$76m market cap decline
Key Insights
The considerable ownership by individual investors in TaskUs 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 42% ownership
If you want to know who really controls TaskUs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASK), 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 55% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 7.4% price drop, insiders with their 28% also suffered.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about TaskUs.
View our latest analysis for TaskUs
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About TaskUs?
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.
TaskUs 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. 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 TaskUs, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
TaskUs is not owned by hedge funds. With a 14% stake, CEO Bryce Maddock is the largest shareholder. With 14% and 3.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Jaspar Weir and FMR LLC are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Jaspar Weir is also President, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of TaskUs
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of TaskUs, Inc.. Insiders own US$272m worth of shares in the US$982m company. 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, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 55% of TaskUs shares. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.
I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free.
But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
