Key Insights

• Institutions' substantial holdings in Airbnb implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

• The top 9 shareholders own 50% of the company

• Insiders have sold recently

If you want to know who really controls Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 56% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Airbnb

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Airbnb?

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.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Airbnb. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Airbnb's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Airbnb is not owned by hedge funds. With a 10% stake, CEO Brian Chesky is the largest shareholder. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 7.1% by the third-largest shareholder. Interestingly, the second and third-largest shareholders also happen to be the Top Key Executive and Member of the Board of Directors, respectively. This once again signifies considerable insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

We also observed that the top 9 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Airbnb

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Airbnb, Inc.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful US$23b stake in this US$81b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 14% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Airbnb. 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:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Airbnb better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Airbnb (1 is significant) that you should be aware of.

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.

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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.