Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in AvePoint's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• The top 6 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Institutions own 36% of AvePoint

A look at the shareholders of AvePoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVPT) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual insiders own the lion's share in the company with 37% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit US$1.5b market cap following a 5.7% gain in the stock.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About AvePoint?

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 AvePoint. 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 AvePoint's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in AvePoint. The company's largest shareholder is Zhijian Lu, with ownership of 10%. Xunkai Gong is the second largest shareholder owning 9.5% of common stock, and 65 Equity Partners Holdings Pte. Ltd. holds about 9.1% of the company stock. Xunkai Gong, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Top Key Executive. Furthermore, CEO Tianyi Jiang is the owner of 8.6% of the company's shares.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of AvePoint

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of AvePoint, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$1.5b, and insiders have US$558m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 17% stake in AvePoint. 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

Private equity firms hold a 9.1% stake in AvePoint. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company 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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.