Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in OPKO Health's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership

• 50% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders

• Recent purchases by insiders

If you want to know who really controls OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 46% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

It's interesting to note that insiders have been buying shares recently. This could be interpreted as insiders anticipating a rise in stock prices in the near future.

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

View our latest analysis for OPKO Health

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About OPKO Health?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that OPKO Health 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. 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 OPKO Health's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

OPKO Health is not owned by hedge funds. With a 30% stake, CEO Phillip Frost is the largest shareholder. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 5.3% of common stock, and Gary Nabel holds about 5.1% of the company stock. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Gary Nabel is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 50% of the company is controlled by the top 5 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of OPKO Health

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of OPKO Health, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$1.1b, and insiders have US$519m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish to access this free chart showing recent trading by insiders.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 26% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Be aware that OPKO Health is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.

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