Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Nautilus Biotechnology's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• 54% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Institutions own 20% of Nautilus Biotechnology

If you want to know who really controls Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 32% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

So, insiders of Nautilus Biotechnology have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Nautilus Biotechnology.

View our latest analysis for Nautilus Biotechnology

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nautilus Biotechnology?

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 Nautilus Biotechnology does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Nautilus Biotechnology's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Nautilus Biotechnology. Our data suggests that Parag Mallick, who is also the company's Top Key Executive, holds the most number of shares at 16%. When an insider holds a sizeable amount of a company's stock, investors consider it as a positive sign because it suggests that insiders are willing to have their wealth tied up in the future of the company. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 14% and 14%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Sujal Patel is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

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 Nautilus Biotechnology

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.

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 Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.. Insiders have a US$87m stake in this US$269m 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 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Nautilus Biotechnology. 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 30%, private equity firms could influence the Nautilus Biotechnology board. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 3.3%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that Nautilus Biotechnology is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those shouldn't be ignored...

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.