MSOS at Year End: What Institutional Ownership Is Telling Us

 

Above is a chart of MSOS Institutional ownership. What's worth talking about is that institutional participation in MSOS has materially increased, and not just marginally. The number of institutional owners rose to 180, with a 15.38% increase quarter over quarter, which tells me this isn’t just passive drift, it’s active engagement. Even more important is how they’re positioning: 169 long only funds versus zero short only funds. That imbalance matters. Institutions may hedge elsewhere, but when outright short only exposure disappears, it often signals a shift in perceived downside risk.

The real headline though is the 68.61% MRQ surge in institutional shares held, an increase of 22.88 million shares. That’s aggressive accumulation, not window dressing. When ownership expands at that rate, especially in a sector that has been left for dead sentiment wise, it often reflects longer-term positioning rather than short-term trading.

The average portfolio allocation of just 0.2766% also tells an important story. Institutions are involved, but this is still a toe in the water position size. Historically, that’s exactly where leadership themes begin, small allocations that can later be scaled if price and relative strength confirm. From a contrarian standpoint, that’s constructive.

Looking at the shareholder list, names like Suvretta Capital, Jane Street, Citadel, Susquehanna, and Citigroup reinforce that liquidity providers and sophisticated funds are active here. That doesn’t guarantee upside, but it does improve market structure and reduces the odds that price action is purely retail driven.

Finally, price performance supports the narrative. MSOS rose from $3.81 to $4.71, a 23.6% gain year over year. That’s not explosive, but in the context of a deeply out of favor sector, it suggests stabilization and accumulation, not distribution.

Put it all together, I don’t see euphoria but I do see quiet institutional interest building beneath the surface, which is often how durable turns begin. Now lets take a look at the record monthly volume we are seeing for the month of December.

As we close out the year, one of the more underappreciated developments in MSOS has been the record monthly volume we saw during December. Volume doesn’t get nearly the attention that price does, but in many ways it tells the more important story. Price shows where something is trading; volume tells you who is involved.

December’s surge in volume stands out not just because it set a record, but because it came after a long period of relative dormancy in the cannabis space. This hasn’t been a momentum driven sector, and participation has been thin for much of the past couple of years. When volume expands this dramatically, especially at year end, it’s rarely accidental.

This ties in closely with the recent data on institutional ownership, which shows a sharp increase in shares held and a notable absence of short-only institutional positioning. Institutions don’t build positions quietly without liquidity. They need volume to enter, adjust, and rebalance exposure efficiently. Record volume provides exactly that kind of environment.

What’s also important is that this volume increase has not been accompanied by euphoric price action. MSOS is higher year-over-year, but not extended. That combination, heavy volume without runaway price often suggests accumulation or absorption rather than speculative excess. In other words, shares are changing hands, but not being aggressively marked up.

From a market structure standpoint, rising institutional ownership alongside record volume improves liquidity, tightens spreads, and lays the groundwork for more sustained moves down the road. It doesn’t guarantee upside, but it does suggest that MSOS is no longer being ignored.

Some other names besides MSOS with record monthly volume are MSOX, TLRY, TCNNF,CRLBF, GTBIF, YCBD and CGC. At year end, that shift in participation is worth paying attention to.

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