Top United Airlines Shareholders

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL) is a holding company that, primarily through its subsidiary United Airlines Inc., transports both passengers and cargo. The company makes use of a hub and spoke system to transport passengers between destinations in the U.S. as well as in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Pacific. United contracts with regional carriers under the brand United Express, and with global airlines as a member of Star Alliance.

In FY 2022, the company had a net income of $737 million and revenue of $45 billion. The market capitalization of United is $18.0 billion.

The top individual shareholders of United Airlines are Oscar Munoz, J. Scott Kirby, and Brett J. Hart, and the top institutional shareholders are Vanguard Group Inc., Primecap Management Co., and Capital International Investors.

Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders

Oscar Munoz

Oscar Munoz holds 241,336 shares of United Airlines, representing 0.05% of outstanding shares. Munoz has been the executive chair of the board of the company since May 2020. Prior to that, he served as CEO from 2015 to 2020 and was president from 2015 to 2016. Before joining United, Munoz held executive leadership positions at CSX Corp. (CSX), a railroad and intermodal transportation services company. Munoz also serves on the boards of CBRE Group Inc. (CBRE) and Univision Holdings Inc. (UVN).

J. Scott Kirby

J. Scott Kirby holds 430,886 shares of United Airlines, representing 0.07% of outstanding shares. Kirby was president of the company from 2016 to 2020 and became CEO in May 2020. Prior to United, Kirby was president of American Airlines from 2013 to 2016 and president of U.S. Airways from 2006 to 2013. He also serves as chair of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board.

Brett J. Hart

Brett J. Hart holds 148,504 shares of United Airlines, representing 0.04% of outstanding shares. Hart is president of United Airlines Holdings Inc., a position he has held since May 2020. Hart joined United in 2010 and was most recently executive vice president and chief administrative officer. He served as interim CEO for 6 months in 2015. Hart oversees United's public advocacy strategy including the Government Affairs, Corporate Communications, Legal and Community Engagement teams, as well as the Corporate Real Estate team and other efforts. Hart is a board member of AbbVie Inc. (ABBV).

Top 3 Institutional Shareholders

According to Whale Wisdom, more than 750 13F filers held United Airlines stock as of Q2 2023. Five of them included United Airlines as 3% or more of their total portfolio. 68% of United Airlines' stock is held by institutional shareholders.

Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. owns roughly 37.9 million shares of United Airlines, or 11.7% of all outstanding shares based on its 13F filing for the period ending May 15, 2023. Vanguard is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company with about $7.6 trillion in global assets under management (AUM) as of March 31, 2023. Vanguard clients can invest in United Airlines stock through the company's Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE). United Airlines accounts for 0.04% of Vanguard's total portfolio.

Primecap Management Co.

Primecap Management owns 23.9 million shares of United Airlines, representing 7.4% of total shares outstanding, according to the company's 13F filing for the period ending March 31, 2023. Primecap is an investment management company that manages U.S.-focused equity portfolios for institutions and mutual funds. The company has a discretionary AUM of about $114 billion. The Primecap Odyssey Growth Fund holds shares of United Airlines. United accounts for about 0.9% of the fund's portfolio.

Capital International Investors

Capital International holds 20.4 million shares of United Airlines as of March 31, 2023, accounting for about 6.2% of all outstanding United shares. Capital International Investors is the investment arm of Capital International Group, with a total of $417 billion in AUM as of 2023. The company's largest holdings include tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT), Meta(META), and Alphabet(GOOGL). Its United shares are worth about $1.1 billion, or about 0.3% of its total portfolio.

The Bottom Line

United Airlines Holdings is a global carrier for passengers and freight. As a public company, its biggest investors are mutual funds and other institutional investors, although some company insiders also have substantial shares.