If you want to know who really controls FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:NOTE), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 31% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's share price fell by 7.7% last week. This set of investors may especially be concerned about the current loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 49% for shareholders. Often called "market makers", institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. Hence, if weakness in FiscalNote Holdings' share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of FiscalNote Holdings.

View our latest analysis for FiscalNote Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About FiscalNote Holdings?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in FiscalNote Holdings. 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 FiscalNote Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 19% of FiscalNote Holdings shares. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Our data shows that Maso Capital Partners Ltd is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 6.8% of the stock. Timothy Hwang, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chairman of the Board.

On looking further, we found that 54% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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 FiscalNote Holdings

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.

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.

We can report that insiders do own shares in FiscalNote Holdings, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$54m worth of the US$664m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in FiscalNote Holdings. 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 11% stake in FiscalNote Holdings. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 4.8%, of the FiscalNote Holdings 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 FiscalNote Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - FiscalNote Holdings has 3 warning signs we think 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.