Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in DiaMedica Therapeutics' growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 5 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership

If you want to know who really controls DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DMAC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 47% to be precise, is individual insiders. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Insiders who purchased recently should be particularly happy after the stock gained 12% in the past week.

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

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DiaMedica 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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in DiaMedica Therapeutics. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of DiaMedica Therapeutics, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

It looks like hedge funds own 6.1% of DiaMedica Therapeutics 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. Our data shows that Jan Stahlberg is the largest shareholder with 16% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 16% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.3% by the third-largest shareholder.

On looking further, we found that 52% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

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 DiaMedica Therapeutics

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$446m, and insiders have US$211m 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 23% stake in DiaMedica Therapeutics. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand DiaMedica Therapeutics better, we need to consider many other factors.

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.

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.