Recent uptick might appease Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX) institutional owners after losing 72% over the past year

If you want to know who really controls Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 36% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors would appreciate the 15% increase in share prices last week, given their one-year returns have been disappointing at 72%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Apyx Medical.

Check out our latest analysis for Apyx Medical

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Apyx Medical?

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.

Apyx Medical already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Apyx Medical, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It would appear that 27% of Apyx Medical shares are controlled by hedge funds. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Archon Capital Management LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 10.0% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.8% and 9.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 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 Apyx Medical

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 information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Apyx Medical Corporation. It has a market capitalization of just US$105m, and insiders have US$13m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 24% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Apyx Medical. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

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. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Apyx Medical (including 2 which don't sit too well with us) .

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.

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