Advertisement
Australia markets open in 5 hours 31 minutes
  • ALL ORDS

    7,898.90
    +37.90 (+0.48%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6421
    -0.0016 (-0.25%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,642.10
    +36.50 (+0.48%)
     
  • OIL

    82.59
    -0.10 (-0.12%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,395.50
    +7.10 (+0.30%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    97,947.82
    +1,689.36 (+1.76%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     

What Kind Of Shareholders Own Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)?

The big shareholder groups in Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) have power over the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.'

With a market capitalization of AU$755m, Mesoblast is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions own shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about MSB.

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

View our latest analysis for Mesoblast

ASX:MSB Ownership Summary, May 16th 2019
ASX:MSB Ownership Summary, May 16th 2019

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Mesoblast?

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mesoblast already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 40% of the company. 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. 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 Mesoblast, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

ASX:MSB Income Statement, May 16th 2019
ASX:MSB Income Statement, May 16th 2019

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Mesoblast. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Mesoblast

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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Mesoblast Limited. Insiders have a AU$117m stake in this AU$755m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 35% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over MSB. 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

We can see that Private Companies own 4.7%, of the shares on issue. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 4.7% of MSB stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Mesoblast better, we need to consider many other factors.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.