Institutional investors are LINK Mobility Group Holding ASA’s (OB:LINK) biggest bettors and were rewarded after last week’s kr568m market cap gain

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies LINK Mobility Group Holding’s stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 52% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders
• Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

To get a sense of who is truly in control of LINK Mobility Group Holding ASA (OB:LINK), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 33% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit kr4.3b in market cap. The one-year return on investment is currently 95% and last week’s gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner of LINK Mobility Group Holding, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for LINK Mobility Group Holding

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About LINK Mobility Group Holding?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in LINK Mobility Group Holding. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there’s always a risk that they are in a ‘crowded trade’. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see LINK Mobility Group Holding’s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.

LINK Mobility Group Holding is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is ABRY Partners, LLC with 32% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are State Street Global Advisors, Inc. and Swedbank Robur Fonder AB, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 7.7%.

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company’s decision-making.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of LINK Mobility Group Holding

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. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of LINK Mobility Group Holding ASA in their own names. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven’t picked up on. It appears that the board holds about kr8.2m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of kr4.3b. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 25% stake in LINK Mobility Group Holding. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 32%, private equity firms could influence the LINK Mobility Group Holding board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 10.0%, of the LINK Mobility Group Holding stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it’s hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand LINK Mobility Group Holding better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.