Yahoo Finance Recent uptick might appease Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) institutional owners after losing 56% over the past year
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 89% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
After a year of 56% losses, last week’s 4.7% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a likely sign that returns might start trending higher.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Zebra Technologies, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Zebra Technologies
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zebra Technologies?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
We can see that Zebra Technologies 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. 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 Zebra Technologies, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Zebra Technologies. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. With 7.4% and 4.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and AllianceBernstein L.P. are the second and third largest shareholders.
A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 19 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.
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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Zebra Technologies
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.
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 Zebra Technologies Corporation insiders own under 1% of the company. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$71m worth of shares (at current prices). It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public-- including retail investors -- own 11% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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 Zebra Technologies better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Zebra Technologies you should know about.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
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