Significantly high institutional ownership implies Digital Turbine's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
A total of 20 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
Every investor in Digital Turbine, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPS) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 60% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And so it follows that institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$194m last week after a 12% drop in the share price. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 80% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Often called “market movers", institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. Hence, if weakness in Digital Turbine's share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Digital Turbine.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Digital Turbine?
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 Digital Turbine 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 Digital Turbine's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
earnings-and-revenue-growth
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Digital Turbine. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.9% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.9% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that William Stone, the CEO has 1.7% of the shares allocated to their name.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 20 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Digital Turbine
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.
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 Digital Turbine, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$7.5m worth of stock in the US$194m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
With a 30% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Digital Turbine. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Private Equity Ownership
With a stake of 5.9%, private equity firms could influence the Digital Turbine board. 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Digital Turbine , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
