Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Immunotech Biopharm's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 57% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

If you want to know who really controls Immunotech Biopharm Ltd (HKG:6978), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 44% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And last week, insiders endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 15%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Immunotech Biopharm.

Check out our latest analysis for Immunotech Biopharm

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Immunotech Biopharm?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Immunotech Biopharm's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Immunotech Biopharm. Because actions speak louder than words, we consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant stake in a company. In Immunotech Biopharm's case, its Top Key Executive, Zheng Tan, is the largest shareholder, holding 19% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 19% and 10.0% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 57% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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. 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 Immunotech Biopharm

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Immunotech Biopharm Ltd. Insiders have a HK$1.0b stake in this HK$2.3b business. 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-- including retail investors -- own 20% 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.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 10.0%, of the Immunotech Biopharm stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 19% of Immunotech Biopharm. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Immunotech Biopharm better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Immunotech Biopharm you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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.