Public companies are Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited's (HKG:1833) biggest owners and were hit after market cap dropped HK$828m - Simply Wall St News

Stock Analysis

If you want to know who really controls Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited (HKG:1833), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that public companies own the lion's share in the company with 39% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And following last week's 5.7% decline in share price, public companies suffered the most losses.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Ping An Healthcare and Technology, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Ping An Healthcare and Technology

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.

Ping An Healthcare and Technology 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. 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 Ping An Healthcare and Technology, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ping An Healthcare and Technology. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 39% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.7% and 2.4% of the stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 51% stake.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 information suggests that Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own HK$6.2m worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

With a 37% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Ping An Healthcare and Technology. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

We can see that Private Companies own 8.7%, 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.

Public companies currently own 39% of Ping An Healthcare and Technology stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

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.

We've created the ultimate portfolio companion for stock investors, and it's free.

• Connect an unlimited number of Portfolios and see your total in one currency• Be alerted to new Warning Signs or Risks via email or mobile• Track the Fair Value of your stocks

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.

Operates an online healthcare services platform in China.