As my focus is primarily on investing in the American and Canadian stock markets, this article will provide information on where to conduct an institutional company ownership search for the stocks listed on these exchanges.
For a quick look-up of institutional ownership for a specific company, I prefer to use the websites of MSN.com and NASDAQ.com. However, it’s important to note that not all American and Canadian listed stocks are included on their ownership pages. Overall, I rely on the data provided by SEC.gov and SEDI.ca, as these sources are known for their accuracy and reliability.
1. Institutional Stock Ownership Search on MSN.com
Visit https://www.msn.com/en-us/money and use the “Quote Search Bar” in the top right corner to find the stock you’re interested in. Click the “Investors” button to see ownership data.
2. Institutional Stock Ownership Search on NASDAQ.com
Visit http://www.nasdaq.com and use the “Quote Search Bar” to find the company’s specific web page. Click the link to the Institutional Holdings page for detailed information.
3. Verify Institutional Ownership for American Institutions on SEC.gov
In order to verify the amount of shares held per institutional shareholder, found through MSN and NASDAQ, you should be reviewing the 13F – HR report from this shareholder, filed on SEC.gov. The institutional investment managers with assets of at least $100 million have to report their individual holdings within 45 days after the last quarter to the SEC on form 13F. You can study their latest 13F – Holding Report in order to see if this data corresponds with the institutional ownership and mutual fund ownership data mentioned on MSN and NASDAQ.
There are three types of 13F reports:
- 13F – HR: This is the Holdings Report I am looking for, in which the institutional investment manager reports the individual holdings.
- 13F – NT: This is a Notice Report, which an institutional investment manager uses to inform the public that a related institutional investment manager has reported the Holdings Report. When you see a 13F – NT report you have to reverse engineer even further so that you can study the Holdings Report of the related institutional investment manager.
- 13F – CR: This is a Combination Report in which a portion of the individual holdings can be found. For the holdings which are reported by a related institutional investment manager you have to reverse engineer their portfolio just like with the 13F – NT report.
To find the 13F reports on SEC.gov you should visit: http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html. After you have entered the Company Name of the company you would like to research the stock ownership of, or after you have entered the relevant stock ticker symbol, you select the latest 13F report in the Fillings column to study their latest publicly disclosed stock ownership.
4. Company Ownership Search for Canadian Listed Companies on SEDI.ca
The company ownership search for all Canadian listed companies starts at the website of SEDI. SEDI is short for: System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders and you can access their website by clicking here.
Just like on the Insider Trading Canada page I have included some screen shots to show you how to generate the required information:
Step 1: Go to www.sedi.ca and select “English” in order to enter the website.
Step 2: Select “Access public filings” in the top right corner.
Step 3: Select “View summary reports” from the menu on the left.
If you select “View insider information” at step 3 you are also able to find all the companies in which a specific insider has ownership.
Step 4: Select “Insider information by issuer “(from the available “Report titles”) and click on the “Next” button.
Step 5: Enter your search criteria and click on the “Search” button.
Step 6: Select the required issuer by clicking on the (blue) “View” link.
Step 7: Finally, you can view the “Insider Information by Issuer” of the company of your choice.
Note: Although it’s a valuable insight to know who the current owners of a specific stock are, it’s even more valuable to inform yourself about the recent change in insider ownership. Check out my articles on Insider Trading Canada and Insider Trading USA for more free resources.
