Institutional investors control 36% of Immuneering Corporation (NASDAQ:IMRX) and were rewarded last week after stock increased 19%
Key Insights
- Significantly high institutional ownership implies Immuneering's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
- The top 11 shareholders own 51% of the company
- Insiders have been buying lately
A look at the shareholders of Immuneering Corporation (NASDAQ:IMRX) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 36% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 19% last week. One-year return to shareholders is currently 189% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Immuneering.
Check out our latest analysis for Immuneering
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Immuneering?
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.
We can see that Immuneering does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Immuneering's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
It looks like hedge funds own 6.4% of Immuneering shares. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is FMR LLC with 14% of shares outstanding. Empery Asset Management, LP is the second largest shareholder owning 6.4% of common stock, and Hbm Healthcare Investments (Cayman) Ltd. holds about 5.6% of the company stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Benjamin Zeskind directly holds 5.0% of the total shares outstanding.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 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 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 Immuneering
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Immuneering Corporation. It has a market capitalization of just US$440m, and insiders have US$60m worth of shares in their own names. 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, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in Immuneering. 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
It seems that Private Companies own 5.6%, of the Immuneering stock. 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.
Public Company Ownership
Public companies currently own 4.2% of Immuneering stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.
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 3 warning signs with Immuneering (at least 2 which don't sit too well with us) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.