What Is The Ownership Structure Like For Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT)?

The big shareholder groups in Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT) have power over the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

Checkpoint Therapeutics is a smaller company with a market capitalization of US$187m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Checkpoint Therapeutics.

See our latest analysis for Checkpoint Therapeutics

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Checkpoint Therapeutics?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Checkpoint 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 Checkpoint Therapeutics, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Checkpoint Therapeutics is not owned by hedge funds. Fortress Biotech, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. With 4.1% and 4.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and James Oliviero are the second and third largest shareholders. James Oliviero, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

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.

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 plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Checkpoint Therapeutics

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.

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 some shares in Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$187m, and insiders have US$10m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 60% of Checkpoint Therapeutics. 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.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 18% of Checkpoint Therapeutics stock. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Checkpoint Therapeutics better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Checkpoint Therapeutics that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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