Key Insights

• Significant insider control over Pony Testing implies vested interests in company growth
• The largest shareholder of the company is Wei Song with a 56% stake
• Institutional ownership in Pony Testing is 13%

If you want to know who really controls Pony Testing Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300887), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 56% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, insiders scored the highest last week as the company hit CN¥4.9b market cap following a 9.4% gain in the stock.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Pony Testing.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Pony Testing?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Pony Testing already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 Pony Testing's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Pony Testing. Wei Song is currently the largest shareholder, with 56% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. The second and third largest shareholders are Huzhou Putai Hengxiang Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) and Huzhou Purui Hengxiang Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership), with an equal amount of shares to their name at 3.9%.

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 Pony Testing

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

It seems that insiders own more than half the Pony Testing Co., Ltd. stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of CN¥4.9b, that means they have CN¥2.8b worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. 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 7.9%, of the Pony Testing stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

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 be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Pony Testing .

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.