What kind of shareholders own the majority of the shares of London Stock Exchange Group plc (LON:LSEG)?

To find out who really controls the London Stock Exchange Group plc (LON:LSEG), you need to look at the composition of the share register. In general, as a business grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often reduce their ownership over time. Previously government-owned companies tend to have less insider ownership.

London Stock Exchange Group has a market cap of £37 billion, so it’s too big to stay under the radar. We would expect both institutions and private investors to own some of the company. Looking at our ownership group data (below), it seems that settings are visible in the share register. Let’s take a closer look at what the different types of shareholders can tell us about London Stock Exchange Group.

Check out our latest analysis for London Stock Exchange Group

What does institutional ownership tell us about the London Stock Exchange Group?

Institutional investors often compare their own returns to the returns of a widely tracked index. So, in general, they consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that London Stock Exchange Group has institutional investors; and they own a large portion of the company’s stock. This may indicate that the company has a degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They are also wrong sometimes. If several institutions change their view of a stock at the same time, you could see the stock price drop quickly. It is therefore worth checking out the London Stock Exchange Group’s earnings history below. It is, of course, about the future.

Investors should keep in mind that institutions actually own more than half of the company, so they can collectively exercise significant power. We note that hedge funds have no meaningful investment in London Stock Exchange Group. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder Refinitiv US Holdings Inc. is with 22% of the outstanding shares. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders hold 6.4% and 4.4% of the outstanding shares, respectively.

Upon closer inspection, we found that over half of the company’s stock is owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are outweighed to some extent by the smaller ones.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which direction the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts who follow the stock, so it might be worth checking out what they’re forecasting as well.

Insider owned by London Stock Exchange Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Ultimately, management is accountable to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to serve on the board of directors, especially if they are founder or CEO.

Most view the possession of inside information as positive because it can indicate that the board is well aligned with other shareholders. Sometimes, however, too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our latest data shows that insiders own less than 1% of the London Stock Exchange Group plc. Please note, however, that insiders may have an indirect interest through a private limited company or other corporate structure. Because we’re so big, we wouldn’t expect insiders to own a huge chunk of the stock. Collectively, they own UK £15 million in shares. In situations like this, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have bought or sold.

General public property

The general public – including private investors – owns a 16% stake in the company and therefore cannot be easily ignored. While this group may not necessarily be in charge, it can certainly have a real impact on the way the company is run.

Private Equity Property

Private equity firms have a 6.4% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group. This suggests that they can influence important policy decisions. Sometimes we see private equity sticking around for the long haul, but generally they have a shorter investment horizon and – as the name suggests – they don’t invest much in public companies. Over time, they may look for a sale and reallocation of capital elsewhere.

Owned by a private company

Our data shows that private companies own 22% of the company’s shares. It might be worth taking a closer look at this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private limited companies, this must be stated in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic stake in the company.

Next steps:

It is always worth thinking about the different groups that own shares in a company. But to better understand London Stock Exchange Group, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we discovered 3 warning signs for London Stock Exchange Group (1 is worrying!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

in the end the future is the most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article have been calculated on the basis of data from the past twelve months, which relate to the period of 12 months ending on the last day of the month in which the financial statements are dated. This may not match the figures for the full annual report.

This Simply Wall St article 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 is not a recommendation to buy or sell stocks and does not take into account your objectives or your financial situation. We strive to provide you with long-term focused analysis powered by fundamental data. Please note that our analysis may not take into account the latest price sensitive company announcements or quality material. Simply Wall St does not hold any position in said stocks.

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