Institutional ownership
Institutional ownership is the amount of a company’s available stock owned by mutual or pension funds, insurance companies, investment firms, private foundations, endowments, or other large entities that manage funds on behalf of others. Stocks with a large amount of institutional ownership are often looked upon favorably. Large entities frequently employ a team of analysts to perform detailed and expensive financial research before the group purchases a large block of a company’s stock. This makes their decisions influential in the eyes of other potential investors. Reputations of institutional ownerships can influence interest in a stock.