Shareholders, also known as stockholders or equity owners, are individuals, entities, or institutions that own shares (equity) in a company. By owning shares, shareholders become partial owners of the company and have a claim on its assets and earnings. Shareholders can be broadly categorized into the following groups:

Individual Investors: These are private individuals who buy shares of a company for investment purposes. They may be small retail investors or high-net-worth individuals who own shares directly or through investment vehicles like mutual funds.

Institutional Investors: Institutional investors are organizations that invest large sums of money on behalf of others. This category includes entities such as pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds, endowments, and hedge funds. Institutional investors often hold significant portions of a company's shares.