Yahoo Finance BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BCRX) institutional shareholders had a great week as one-year returns increased after a 13% gain last week
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
A total of 13 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
A look at the shareholders of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 76% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit US$1.6b in market cap. The one-year return on investment is currently 1.4% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals.
See our latest analysis for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals?
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 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Our data indicates that hedge funds own 6.7% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 7.9% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.5% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.7% by the third-largest shareholder.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 13 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. It is a pretty big company, so it is generally a positive to see some potentially meaningful alignment. In this case, they own around US$17m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand BioCryst Pharmaceuticals better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
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.
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.
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