Significantly high institutional ownership implies United Airlines Holdings’ stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
A total of 10 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
Every investor in United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 89% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And institutional investors saw their holdings value drop by 5.0% last week. This set of investors may especially be concerned about the current loss, which adds to a one-year loss of 3.3% for shareholders. Often called “market movers”, institutions wield significant power in influencing the price dynamics of any stock. As a result, if the downtrend continues, institutions may face pressures to sell United Airlines Holdings, which might have negative implications on individual investors.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of United Airlines Holdings.
Check out our latest analysis for United Airlines Holdings
NasdaqGS:UAL Ownership Breakdown February 1st 2026
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in United Airlines Holdings. 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 United Airlines Holdings’ historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.
NasdaqGS:UAL Earnings and Revenue Growth February 1st 2026
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don’t have many shares in United Airlines Holdings. The company’s largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 12%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.0% and 6.3%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
Story Continues
We also observed that the top 10 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.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$187m worth of shares (at current prices). In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over United Airlines Holdings. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand United Airlines Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we’ve discovered 1 warning sign for United Airlines Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here.
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.