If you want to know who really controls Raffles Medical Group Ltd (SGX:BSL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 46% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 5.0% decrease in the stock price last week, private companies suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 22% stock also took a hit.

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

View our latest analysis for Raffles Medical Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Raffles Medical Group?

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.

Raffles Medical Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Raffles Medical Group's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Raffles Medical Group. Raffles Medical Holdings Pte. Ltd. is currently the largest shareholder, with 42% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 8.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, Choon Yong Loo and Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders. Choon Yong Loo, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.

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 Raffles Medical Group

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.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Raffles Medical Group Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just S$2.5b, and insiders have S$313m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would say this shows a good degree of alignment with shareholders, especially in a company of this size. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 46%, of the Raffles Medical Group stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Raffles Medical Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Raffles Medical Group you should be aware of.

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.