Significantly high institutional ownership implies ASM International's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 40% ownership
Analyst forecasts 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 ASM International NV (AMS:ASM), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 48% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 15% last week. However, the 3.4% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. But they would probably be wary of future losses.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about ASM International.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About ASM International?
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.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in ASM International. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 ASM International, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
ENXTAM:ASM Earnings and Revenue Growth January 30th 2025
ASM International is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 8.6% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 5.5% and 4.9%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
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 ASM International
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.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of ASM International NV in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own €23m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 47% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over ASM International. 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
We can see that public companies hold 5.5% of the ASM International shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.
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.
