Do Institutions Own Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited (NASDAQ:CNTA) Shares?

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Simply Wall St

Sat, Jan 1, 2022, 5:33 AM 4 min read

Every investor in Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited (NASDAQ:CNTA) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

With a market capitalization of US$1.0b, Centessa Pharmaceuticals is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Centessa Pharmaceuticals.

See our latest analysis for Centessa Pharmaceuticals

ownership-breakdown — NasdaqGS:CNTA Ownership Breakdown January 1st 2022

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Centessa Pharmaceuticals?

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.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals 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 Centessa Pharmaceuticals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — NasdaqGS:CNTA Earnings and Revenue Growth January 1st 2022

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Centessa Pharmaceuticals. Medicxi Ventures (UK) LLP is currently the largest shareholder, with 20% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 11% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 11% by the third-largest shareholder.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 51% of the company is controlled by the top 4 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. 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 Centessa Pharmaceuticals

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. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$55m. Most would see this as a real positive. Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 15% stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals. 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 51%, private equity firms could influence the Centessa Pharmaceuticals 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:

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. Be aware that Centessa Pharmaceuticals is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is significant...

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.