To get a sense of who is truly in control of Niagen Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAGE), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 36% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
While individual investors were the group that benefitted the most from last week’s US$51m market cap gain, insiders too had a 30% share in those profits.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Niagen Bioscience.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Niagen Bioscience?
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 Niagen Bioscience 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 Niagen Bioscience, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NasdaqCM:NAGE Earnings and Revenue Growth April 24th 2025
Niagen Bioscience is not owned by hedge funds. Hoi Shuen Chau is currently the company's largest shareholder with 25% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 4.9% and 4.6% of the stock. In addition, we found that Robert Fried, the CEO has 2.1% of the shares allocated to their name.
We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Niagen Bioscience
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.
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 a reasonable proportion of Niagen Bioscience, Inc.. Insiders have a US$161m stake in this US$537m 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-- including retail investors -- own 36% 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.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 4.9% of Niagen Bioscience stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.
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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Niagen Bioscience that you should be aware of.
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content?Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
