Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in B-SOFTLtd indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 16 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• 16% of B-SOFTLtd is held by insiders

Every investor in B-SOFT Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:300451) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 43% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 6.2% decrease in the stock price last week, individual investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 26% stock also took a hit.

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

Check out our latest analysis for B-SOFTLtd

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About B-SOFTLtd?

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.

B-SOFTLtd 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. 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 B-SOFTLtd, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in B-SOFTLtd. Our data shows that Hang Ge is the largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 10% and 3.2% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Lv Zheng Zhang directly holds 1.9% of the total shares outstanding.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 16 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over 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 B-SOFTLtd

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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 B-SOFT Co.,Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful CN¥1.3b stake in this CN¥8.2b business. 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

With a 43% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over B-SOFTLtd. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Public Company Ownership

It appears to us that public companies own 12% of B-SOFTLtd. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand B-SOFTLtd better, we need to consider many other factors.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.