NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $124.26, but opened at $129.72. NiCE shares last traded at $131.8690, with a volume of 386,017 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NICE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised NiCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 price target on shares of NiCE in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of NiCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NiCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on NiCE from $195.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.25.

NiCE Stock Up 5.6%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.24. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.98.

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The technology company reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.02. NiCE had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 18.92%.The company had revenue of $726.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that NiCE will post 9.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of NiCE

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of NiCE by 1,125.3% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 768,737 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,516,000 after purchasing an additional 705,997 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in NiCE by 116.1% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,226,920 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,238,000 after purchasing an additional 659,170 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of NiCE by 218.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 908,014 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,989,000 after purchasing an additional 623,014 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in NiCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,843,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiCE by 36.5% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 845,620 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,429,000 after purchasing an additional 225,936 shares during the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NiCE

NiCE Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud platforms for AI-driven digital business solutions worldwide. It offers CXone, a cloud native open platform; Enlighten, an AI engine for the customer engagement market; and smart self-service enables organizations to address consumers’ needs; and journey orchestration solutions that empower organizations to connect and route customers to deal with the customer’s request, and connects them using real-time AI-based routing.