What Percentage Of Audio Pixels Holdings Limited (ASX:AKP) Shares Do Insiders Own?

If you want to know who really controls Audio Pixels Holdings Limited (ASX:AKP), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

With a market capitalization of AU$552m, Audio Pixels Holdings is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutional investors have not yet purchased shares. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about Audio Pixels Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Audio Pixels Holdings

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Audio Pixels Holdings?

Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.

There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Audio Pixels Holdings's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.

Audio Pixels Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Frederick Bart with 20% of shares outstanding. Altshuler Shacham Trusts Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Laurence Freedman holds about 5.7% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Audio Pixels Holdings

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

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 information suggests that insiders own more than half of Audio Pixels Holdings Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. So they have a AU$279m stake in this AU$552m business. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover (for free) if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 33% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over AKP. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 16%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Audio Pixels Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Audio Pixels Holdings you should be aware of, and 2 of them are a bit unpleasant.

If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.

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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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