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Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), the global streaming giant, has surged over 90% in the past year, with its stock recently trading around $1,253 per share and a market cap now north of $530 billion. The company has become a core component of many investors’ portfolios thanks to its dominant market position, consistent subscriber growth, and improving profitability.
The company’s capital-light model, compelling content slate, and continued global expansion have reignited bullish sentiment, making it one of the standout names in the broader tech rally.
But looking at performance alone doesn’t tell the full story.
By diving into Netflix’s ownership structure, we get a clearer picture of which investors are backing the stock with size and conviction. Understanding who holds the reins, whether index-tracking behemoths, active managers, or high-conviction hedge funds, can offer powerful signals about market sentiment, risk concentration, and potential catalysts. This ownership lens gives individual investors insight into which way the wind is blowing behind the scenes.
It also reflects how capital structures evolve as companies grow. While co-founder Reed Hastings once held a majority stake in Netflix, his ownership has declined over time due to IPO dilution, stock-based compensation, personal share sales, and a large charitable donation in 2024. Today, he owns just around 0.5% of the company, an expected shift as Netflix transitioned from a founder-led startup to a globally held public company.
The Biggest Shareholders
As of the most recent filings, Netflix is primarily held by large institutional investors, many of them passive asset managers. The top 10 shareholders own 36% of the company. Leading the pack is The Vanguard Group, with a $47.3 billion position representing 8.88% of Netflix’s shares outstanding. BlackRock follows closely, holding $27.6 billion (5.19%). Both firms manage massive index and ETF products, so their positions reflect aggregate investor interest rather than active conviction.
Other major holders include Fidelity ($26.8B, 5.03%) and State Street Global Advisors ($21.4B, 4.01%), rounding out the “Big Three” of passive ownership. Together, these firms control over 18% of the company’s equity. While these shares are sticky, they don’t necessarily reflect a bullish thesis. They’re often just a function of Netflix’s inclusion in major indexes like the S&P 500.
Active managers do show up in size as well. Capital World Investors owns $14.4B (2.71%) and T. Rowe Price holds $13.9B (2.61%). Notably, Jennison Associates maintains a 1.53% stake worth $8.2B, but that position represents a hefty 3.90% of its total portfolio, suggesting more intentional exposure.
Among the smaller, but still material holders: Geode Capital, Invesco QQQ Trust, and Norges Bank (Norway’s sovereign wealth fund) all maintain over $5 billion in NFLX stock, while AllianceBernstein and Capital Research round out the top institutional list.
High-Conviction Hedge Funds
While the largest positions often belong to diversified giants, conviction can be better measured by the percentage of a fund’s portfolio in a single name. A handful of hedge funds and boutique asset managers have placed bold bets on Netflix.
Barton Investment Management and Ogborne Capital both have over 25% of their portfolios in NFLX, even though the dollar values are relatively modest at $312 million and $93.8 million, respectively. These positions represent 28.6% and 26.9% of each firm’s portfolio, signaling extremely high conviction.
SRS Investment Management, with a $2.5 billion position (0.48% of shares outstanding), has allocated 25.4% of its fund to Netflix, making it a core holding. Similarly, Styrax Capital has 17.3% of its portfolio in NFLX, and Everstar Asset Management holds 16.2%.
Other notable funds include:
- Technology Crossover Ventures: $473.9 million (11.6% of AUM)
- Jericho Capital: $723.9 million (9.8%)
- Teewinot Capital and Surgocap Partners, both above 7.8%
These firms may not rival BlackRock in size, but their concentrated bets suggest they see asymmetric upside or a deeply held belief in Netflix’s strategic trajectory.
What the Ownership Tells Us
Netflix’s ownership is a hybrid of passive dominance and active conviction. On one hand, the Big Three index managers collectively control a significant chunk of the float, driven by ETF flows rather than fundamental views. This passive ownership can make the stock less responsive to company-specific news and more correlated with broad market moves.
At the same time, the presence of concentrated, high-conviction positions among hedge funds and growth-focused asset managers tells a more nuanced story. These investors are not buying Netflix because they have to. They’re buying because they want to. This suggests a belief in the company’s margin expansion, pricing power, or competitive moat in original content.
As mentioned above, with Hastings reducing his stake over time, insider ownership is minimal, which is typical for a mature public company but still worth noting in terms of alignment. No insiders or founders currently appear among the top holders.
This mix of passive stability and active conviction may help buffer volatility while still creating room for upside if hedge fund theses play out. But it also introduces risks: redemptions at high-conviction funds or ETF outflows could weigh disproportionately on the stock.
The TIKR Takeaway
Netflix’s ownership structure tells a compelling story of broad institutional support and deep-pocketed conviction. It’s a stock that’s too big to ignore, anchored in indexes but selectively overweighted by funds that believe in its next leg of growth. For investors watching capital flows, tracking these shifts using TIKR can offer valuable insight into where the smart money is moving and what it might mean for future returns.
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