Largest Asset Manager, Biggest US Pension Fund Bulk Up On Nio Holdings: What You Need to Know

Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio Inc – ADR NIO has made rapid strides on the fundamental front ever since the COVID-19-induced slowdown in early 2020.

The fundamental improvement has triggered strong upside in the company's NYSE-listed shares. 

What Happened: Asset management company BlackRock, Inc. BLK increased its holdings of Nio shares by over 15% in the fourth quarter over the previous quarter, according to a 13F filing by the firm. 

At the end of the fourth quarter, BlackRock held 61.5 million shares of Nio, up 15.32% from the 53.33 million shares held at the end of the third quarter.

See also: How to Buy Nio Stock

In value terms, the investment in Nio by BlackRock stood at $2.99 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. This represented a 164% quarter-over-quarter increase from the $1.13 billion the firm held at the end of the third quarter.

The California Public Employees Retirement System, the biggest U.S. pension fund, has also loaded up on Nio shares. A 13F filing by the fund revealed that it holds 2.579 million shares of Nio, up 12.4% from the previous quarter.

The value of the pension fund's holding at the end of the fourth quarter was at $125.72 million, up from $48.69 million at the end of the third quarter.

Related Link: Nio January Deliveries Rise 352% YoY, Sequential Growth Slows

Why It's Important: Nio shares were among the best performers in 2020, soaring over 1,100% before ending the year at $48.74.

The momentum continued into the new year. The Nio Day event held Jan. 9 drove the stock to a record $66.99 in the next session. Since then, the stock has been seeing uneven trading.

The stake-building by big Wall Street firms is reflective of confidence in the company and its future.

The next catalyst for the stock is likely to be the release of the company's fourth-quarter results March 1. The company is also expected to release deliveries statistics for February at the same time. 

Analysts, on average, expect the company to report a narrower loss of 8 cents per share on revenues of $990.56 million, up 143.4% year-over-year.

NIO Price Action: At last check, Nio shares were rising 4.43% to $59.18. 

Related Link: BofA's Takeaways On Nio's 2021 Plans

Photo courtesy of Nio.