If you want to know who really controls Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI), 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 52% to be precise, is individual insiders. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
So, insiders of Nelnet have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company’s future is important to them from a financial point of view.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Nelnet.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nelnet?
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.
We can see that Nelnet 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. 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 Nelnet, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NYSE:NNI Earnings and Revenue Growth February 27th 2025
Our data indicates that hedge funds own 5.2% of Nelnet. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. From our data, we infer that the largest shareholder is Michael Dunlap (who also holds the title of Top Key Executive) with 24% of shares outstanding. Its usually considered a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company, and in this case, we're glad to see a company insider play the role of a key stakeholder. Angela Muhleisen is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and Dan Muhleisen holds about 6.9% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Jeffrey Noordhoek, the CEO has 1.5% of the shares allocated to their name.
Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.
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. 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 Nelnet
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. 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.
It seems that insiders own more than half the Nelnet, Inc. stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of US$4.0b, that means insiders have a whopping US$2.1b worth of shares in their own names. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been selling any of their shares.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 11% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 7.5%, of the shares on issue. 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. Take risks for example - Nelnet has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.
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.
