Key Insights
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The considerable ownership by retail investors in Annovis Bio indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
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The top 25 shareholders own 34% of the company
If you want to know who really controls Annovis Bio, Inc. (NYSE:ANVS), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion’s share in the company with 56% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched US$116m last week, while insiders who own 22% also benefitted.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Annovis Bio.
View our latest analysis for Annovis Bio
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Annovis Bio?
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.
We can see that Annovis Bio does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company’s stock. 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 Annovis Bio’s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.
Hedge funds don’t have many shares in Annovis Bio. Michael M. Hoffman is currently the largest shareholder, with 15% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.2% by the third-largest shareholder. Maria Maccecchini, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company’s shares, meaning that the company’s shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
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 Annovis Bio
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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 insiders own a significant proportion of Annovis Bio, Inc.. Insiders have a US$25m stake in this US$116m business. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 56% stake in Annovis Bio, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.
Next Steps:
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Annovis Bio better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 7 warning signs we’ve spotted with Annovis Bio (including 5 which make us uncomfortable) .
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.
