Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies GPT Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions 54% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

A look at the shareholders of The GPT Group (ASX:GPT) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 81% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit AU$8.0b in market cap. One-year return to shareholders is currently 2.1% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of GPT Group.

View our latest analysis for GPT Group  ownership-breakdown

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About GPT Group?

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.

GPT Group 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. 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 GPT Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. earnings-and-revenue-growth

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in GPT Group. BNP Paribas Securities Corp, Asset Management Arm is currently the company's largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. UniSuper Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 16% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 11% of the company stock.



Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 54% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of GPT Group

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.

Our information suggests that The GPT Group insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own AU$16m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can  click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 19% 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 GPT Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified  2 warning signs for GPT Group (1 is significant)  that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this freereport on analyst forecasts for the company.

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.