In the second quarter of this year, the share price of Nice (TASE: NICE; Nasdaq: NICE) fell by 34%, mainly because of the announcement of CEO Barak Eilam’s impending retirement, and the company’s tepid guidance. Now, however, another reason has emerged for the pressure on the stock: a sale of shares by investment giant BlackRock.
According to a filing last week, at the end of June, BlackRock was no longer a party at interest in Nice, holding just 4.3% of the shares in the company. This compares with a holding of 5.1% according to Nice’s 20-F report filed on March 27. At the end of 2022, BlackRock held 8.1% of the shares in Nice. BlackRock is not obliged to report at what prices it carries out transactions in Nice shares.
Nice’s share price in the relevant period ranged between $162 and $262, so that, at the average price, the sale was for about $100 million. The value of BlackRock’s current holding in Nice is $483 million.
The largest shareholder in Nice is Capital Research Global Investors, which held 7.9% of the company according to the March 20-F filing, a stake currently worth $872 million.
Nice is traded on Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a market cap of $11.1 billion. The Ra’anana-based software company provides customer relations management and risk management solutions. This week, Nice reported that, although its shareholders voted against an allocation of stock-based compensation to outgoing CEO Eilam, its board of directors decided to approve it, as permitted under the Companies Law.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 10, 2024.
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