Institutional Investors' Shareholding Falls
South Korean institutional investors net-sold 73 million Samsung Electronics shares from Jan. 2 to Sept. 16. The amount is equivalent to approximately 1.2 percent of the total Samsung Electronics shares. Their shareholding in the company fell from 8.7 percent to about 7.5 percent during the period.
Meanwhile, individual investors net-bought 147.05 million shares to increase their shareholding from 3.6 percent to 6.1 percent or so.
As of the end of last year, South Korean institutional investors other than the National Pension Service owned 8.7 percent of Samsung Electronics while affiliated persons, the National Pension Service and individuals accounted for 21.2 percent, 10.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. Foreign investors owned 55.9 percent at that time.
This year, however, individual investors’ investment in the company has increased based on their aggressive purchase. In other words, their move is now as important as institutional investors’ in predicting the direction of the stock price of Samsung Electronics. A number of securities companies are saying that individual investors’ preference for the company is likely to continue for a while.