Yahoo Finance WiseTech Global Limited's (ASX:WTC) top owners are private companies with 41% stake, while 29% is held by individual investors
Key Insights
Significant control over WiseTech Global by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
50% of the business is held by the top 3 shareholders
Every investor in WiseTech Global Limited (ASX:WTC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 41% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 29% of the company's stockholders.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of WiseTech Global, beginning with the chart below.
Check out our latest analysis for WiseTech Global
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About WiseTech Global?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in WiseTech Global. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see WiseTech Global's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in WiseTech Global. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Realwise Holdings Pty Ltd with 40% of shares outstanding. Charles Gibbon is the second largest shareholder owning 5.2% of common stock, and Baillie Gifford & Co. holds about 5.0% of the company stock.
After doing some more digging, we found that the top 3 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of WiseTech Global
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. 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.
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.
We can report that insiders do own shares in WiseTech Global Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth AU$3.0b. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
With a 29% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over WiseTech Global. 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 41%, 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.
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 find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
