Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in OptiNose implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

• The top 7 shareholders own 53% of the company

• Insiders have been selling lately

If you want to know who really controls OptiNose, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTN), 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 45% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week's US$20m market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 24% losses.

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

Check out our latest analysis for OptiNose

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About OptiNose?

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.

OptiNose 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 OptiNose's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It would appear that 14% of OptiNose shares are controlled by hedge funds. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Our data shows that FMR LLC is the largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.7% and 9.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 OptiNose

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.

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.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in OptiNose, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$6.6m worth of stock in the US$113m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over OptiNose. 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

With a stake of 19%, private equity firms could influence the OptiNose board. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand OptiNose better, we need to consider many other factors. Take risks for example - OptiNose has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

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.