If you want to know who really controls MotorCycle Holdings Limited (ASX:MTO), 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 29% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

It's interesting to note that insiders have been buying shares recently. This might indicate that they expect share prices to rise in the near future.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of MotorCycle Holdings, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for MotorCycle Holdings  ownership-breakdown

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MotorCycle Holdings?

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.

We can see that MotorCycle Holdings 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. 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 MotorCycle Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. earnings-and-revenue-growth

It looks like hedge funds own 5.5% of MotorCycle Holdings shares. 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. The company's CEO David Ahmet is the largest shareholder with 16% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 12% 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 55% 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of MotorCycle Holdings

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of MotorCycle Holdings Limited. Insiders have a AU$54m stake in this AU$184m business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can  click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% 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

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 16%, of the company's shares. 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. To that end, you should learn about the  3 warning signs  we've spotted with MotorCycle Holdings (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .

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.

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.

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