Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Milestone Pharmaceuticals indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 46% ownership
• Institutions own 46% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals

If you want to know who really controls Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MIST), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 54% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And institutions on the other hand have a 46% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Milestone Pharmaceuticals.

Check out our latest analysis for Milestone Pharmaceuticals

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Milestone 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.

We can see that Milestone Pharmaceuticals does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Milestone Pharmaceuticals, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Milestone Pharmaceuticals. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.5% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.2% by the third-largest shareholder.

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.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Milestone Pharmaceuticals

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.

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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc.. It appears that the board holds about US$734k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of US$101m. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 54% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Milestone Pharmaceuticals better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Milestone Pharmaceuticals that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

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

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.