Donghak Gaemi Surpasses 10% Stake in Samsung Electronics for the First Time

Surpassing the National Pension Fund's Shareholding Ratio

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The number of Samsung Electronics shares held by individual investors has surpassed 600 million, with individual ownership exceeding 10% for the first time.

According to the financial investment industry on the 2nd, as of the 30th of last month, the number of Samsung Electronics shares (common stock) held by individuals was 605.33 million shares, accounting for 10.13% of the total shares.

This is the first time that individual ownership of Samsung Electronics has exceeded 10%, surpassing the holdings of institutional investors including the National Pension Service.

The National Pension Service, which held 10.70% of Samsung Electronics shares at the end of last year, announced in March that its stake had fallen below 10%. Since March, the pension fund has net sold more than 30 million Samsung Electronics shares. Considering that the National Pension Service accounts for an absolute proportion of the pension funds, its stake in Samsung Electronics is estimated to be about 9.5%. Institutional investors excluding the National Pension Service hold about 4.58% of Samsung Electronics shares.

Individual ownership of Samsung Electronics shares increased from 3.62% at the end of 2019 to 6.48% at the end of last year, driven by the 'Donghak Ant Movement,' a stock investment craze among individual investors last year. This year, individuals have purchased an additional 218.14 million shares (3.65%) over four months. In particular, individual investors have net bought more than 13 million shares in the last four days, pushing their ownership above 10%.

The value of Samsung Electronics shares net purchased by individuals this year amounts to 18.4336 trillion KRW. This accounts for 42.3% of the total net purchases of 43.5521 trillion KRW by individuals in the KOSPI market this year.

Samsung Electronics shares are held 21.17% by special related parties including the Samsung family and Samsung Life Insurance. The foreign ownership ratio decreased from 55.73% at the end of last year to 54.61%. With individual ownership exceeding 10%, individuals have emerged as the second most influential investors in Samsung Electronics stock after foreigners.

On the 30th of last month, Samsung Electronics stock closed at 81,500 KRW. Despite net selling pressure from foreigners, institutions, and the National Pension Service this year, the stock price maintained the level of the end of last year (81,000 KRW) because individuals absorbed all the selling volume.

At the end of last year, there were 2.14 million individual investors holding Samsung Electronics shares. With a significant increase in the number of investors this year, the industry estimates that the current number exceeds 3 million.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.