Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Tenaya Therapeutics' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• 52% of the business is held by the top 9 shareholders
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

If you want to know who really controls Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TNYA), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 44% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And so it follows that institutional investors was the group most impacted after the company's market cap fell to US$248m last week after a 17% drop in the share price. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 49% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. As a result, if the decline continues, institutional investors may be pressured to sell Tenaya Therapeutics which might hurt individual investors.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tenaya Therapeutics?

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 Tenaya Therapeutics 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. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Tenaya Therapeutics' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Tenaya Therapeutics is not owned by hedge funds. The Column Group, LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.6% and 7.3% of the stock.

We also observed that the top 9 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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 Tenaya Therapeutics

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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc.. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$2.8m worth of the US$248m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 27% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 28% stake in Tenaya Therapeutics. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Tenaya Therapeutics better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Tenaya Therapeutics (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com