Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Oriental Culture Holding indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 14 investors have a majority stake in the company with 40% ownership

A look at the shareholders of Oriental Culture Holding LTD (NASDAQ:OCG) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 60% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 13% price drop, insiders with their 25% also suffered.

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

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Oriental Culture Holding?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

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. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Oriental Culture Holding, for yourself, below.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Oriental Culture Holding. James Baudouy is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.7% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 7.6% and 7.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Additionally, the company's CEO Yi Shao directly holds 0.8% of the total shares outstanding.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 14 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. 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 Oriental Culture Holding

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Oriental Culture Holding LTD. Insiders own US$26m worth of shares in the US$102m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 60% stake in Oriental Culture Holding, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. 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 Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 15%, of the shares on issue. 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:

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. Be aware that Oriental Culture Holding is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 3 of those are a bit concerning...

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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. 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.