What Type Of Shareholders Make Up Athira Pharma, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ATHA) Share Registry?

Simply Wall St

Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 9:49 PM 4 min read

Every investor in Athira Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHA) 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 generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

With a market capitalization of US$984m, Athira Pharma is a decent size, so it is probably on the radar of institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Athira Pharma.

View our latest analysis for Athira Pharma

ownership-breakdown — NasdaqGS:ATHA Ownership Breakdown December 18th 2020

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Athira Pharma?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Athira Pharma. 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 Athira Pharma, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

earnings-and-revenue-growth — NasdaqGS:ATHA Earnings and Revenue Growth December 18th 2020

It would appear that 24% of Athira Pharma shares are controlled by hedge funds. 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. Perceptive Advisors LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.6% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 8.2% and 6.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Leen Kawas is the owner of 4.3% of the company's shares.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 11 shareholders have a combined ownership of 53% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

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 Athira Pharma

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Athira Pharma, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$53m worth of the US$984m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a 27% stake in Athira Pharma. 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 an ownership of 5.1%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Athira Pharma you should be aware of, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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