Bank of America (BofA) disclosed on its latest filing with the SEC that it more than doubled its stake in the Shanghai-headquartered EV maker Nio in the first three months of the year.
The bank acquired 6,588,559 shares between January and March, closing the first quarter with over 12.6 million shares.
The bank acquired 6,588,559 shares between January and March, bringing its total stake to over 12.6 million shares—its largest position in Nio since first investing in the company in the third quarter of 2018.
BofA had previously tripled its stake in the first quarter of 2024 to 6.86 million shares, and set a new high of 9.25 million shares in the third quarter that year.
Despite some fluctuations, the position has grown steadily over time.
In the same quarterly filing, the bank disclosed that it quadrupled its holdings in the Chinese EV maker Zeekr to over 50,000 shares, while its position in XPeng jumped 62.9% in the first quarter to 4,708,204 shares.
In contrast, the bank cut its stake in Geely-backed Polestar by more than half, ending the quarter with under 1 million shares.
Its holdings in Lucid Motors were up to 3,374,175 shares, while Rivian shares surged 57% to 10.7 million shares by the end of March.
Bank of America’s stake in Tesla jumped by 25% to nearly 24.86 million shares in the first quarter, a record stake for the firm. The bank became its eleventh largest institutional shareholder as of March 31.
According to Nasdaq, Nio is owned by 490 institutional investors, currently holding around 222.64 million shares.
Institutional ownership in the the Chinese automaker has dropped sharply over the past three years, down roughly 63% from early 2022, when holdings peaked at nearly 600 million shares, according to Fintel.
Last month, institutional ownership in the automaker dropped to its lowest level yet, with holdings barely exceeding 200,000 shares.
As of the end of 2024, Nasdaq data shows UBS as Nio’s largest institutional shareholder with 44.16 million shares, followed by Morgan Stanley with 24.4 million and Susquehanna with 11.14 million shares.
By the end of the first quarter, Bank of America surpassed Susquehanna — which cut its stake to 10.69 million shares between January and March.
As reported earlier on Friday, D.E. Shaw’s position in the EV maker surged twentyfold to 8,606,248 shares, becoming Nio‘s fifth largest institutional owner. Citigroup followed, with a jump of over 430%, to 7,306,143 shares.
JP Morgan Chase reported that it nearly exited its position in Nio, having slashed its stake by 95.3% by the end of the quarter.
The company said earlier this week that it is reporting its first quarter earnings results on June 3, at 8 am Eastern time.
