Key Insights

• Significant control over Corvus Pharmaceuticals by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 25 shareholders own 47% of the company
• Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRVS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 52% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit US$348m market cap following a 17% gain in the stock.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Corvus Pharmaceuticals, beginning with the chart below.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Corvus Pharmaceuticals?

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.

Corvus Pharmaceuticals 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. 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 Corvus Pharmaceuticals' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

It looks like hedge funds own 19% of Corvus Pharmaceuticals shares. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. OrbiMed Advisors LLC is currently the largest shareholder, with 11% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.6% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company's CEO Richard Miller directly holds 2.8% of the total shares outstanding.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Corvus Pharmaceuticals

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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 Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$12m worth of stock in the US$348m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of Corvus Pharmaceuticals. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 16%, private equity firms could influence the Corvus Pharmaceuticals board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Corvus Pharmaceuticals better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Corvus Pharmaceuticals (including 2 which don't sit too well with us) .

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.