Yahoo Finance Vuzix Corporation's (NASDAQ:VUZI) market cap dropped US$33m last week; individual investors who hold 48% were hit as were institutions
If you want to know who really controls Vuzix Corporation (NASDAQ:VUZI), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 48% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
While institutions, who own 45% shares weren’t spared from last week’s US$33m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Vuzix, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Vuzix
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Vuzix?
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.
Vuzix 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 Vuzix's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Vuzix. Our data shows that ARK Investment Management LLC is the largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.2% and 5.9% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Paul Travers directly holds 4.4% of the total shares outstanding.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
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.
Insider Ownership Of Vuzix
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.
We can see that insiders own shares in Vuzix Corporation. It has a market capitalization of just US$235m, and insiders have US$17m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 48% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Vuzix. 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:
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. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Vuzix (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
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.
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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.
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