Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in SEEK indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• 47% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls SEEK Limited (ASX:SEK), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 49% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions who own 46% came under pressure after market cap dropped to AU$8.9b last week,individual investors took the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about SEEK.

Check out our latest analysis for SEEK

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About SEEK?

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.

SEEK already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see SEEK's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

SEEK is not owned by hedge funds. State Street Global Advisors, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.1% of shares outstanding. Fidelity International Ltd is the second largest shareholder owning 8.0% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 6.0% of the company stock.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of SEEK

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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.

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.

We can see that insiders own shares in SEEK Limited. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own AU$375m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 49% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand SEEK better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with SEEK .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.

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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.