Key Insights

• Eledon Pharmaceuticals' significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• 43% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Eledon Pharmaceuticals is 20%

Every investor in Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELDN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 57% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions, who own 20% shares weren’t spared from last week’s US$48m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Eledon Pharmaceuticals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Eledon Pharmaceuticals?

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.

Eledon Pharmaceuticals 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. 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 Eledon Pharmaceuticals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 11% of Eledon Pharmaceuticals. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. BVF Partners L.P. is currently the largest shareholder, with 11% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are RA Capital Management, L.P. and Frazier Life Sciences Management, LP, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 6.0%.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Eledon Pharmaceuticals

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$288m, and the board has only US$124k worth of shares in their own names. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 57% of Eledon Pharmaceuticals shares. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 12%, private equity firms could influence the Eledon Pharmaceuticals board. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 6 warning signs we've spotted with Eledon Pharmaceuticals (including 4 which are significant) .

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.

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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.