Insiders are the top stockholders in CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:COP), and the recent 32% drop might have disappointed them
Key Insights
Insiders appear to have a vested interest in CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership
If you want to know who really controls CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA (ETR:COP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 52% stake, individual insiders possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
And last week, insiders endured the biggest losses as the stock fell by 32%.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA.
View our latest analysis for CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA?
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.
We can see that CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA 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 CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA'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 CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA. The company's largest shareholder is Frank Gotthardt, with ownership of 34%. With 6.9% and 6.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Daniel Gotthardt and Brigitte Gotthardt are the second and third largest 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.
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 CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA
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.
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 most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. Given it has a market cap of €841m, that means they have €436m worth of shares. 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 18% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
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 CompuGroup Medical SE KGaA is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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.
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