Yahoo Finance Institutional investors may adopt severe steps after NovoCure Limited's (NASDAQ:NVCR) latest 7.3% drop adds to a year losses
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, NovoCure's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
Every investor in NovoCure Limited (NASDAQ:NVCR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 81% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
As a result, institutional investors endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by US$542m. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 15% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Often called “market makers”, institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. Hence, if weakness in NovoCure's share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of NovoCure.
View our latest analysis for NovoCure
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About NovoCure?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
We can see that NovoCure does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 NovoCure's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in NovoCure. Our data shows that Capital Research and Management Company is the largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 15% and 9.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of NovoCure
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.
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.
We can see that insiders own shares in NovoCure Limited. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$86m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 18% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand NovoCure better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for NovoCure (1 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of.
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.
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