Earnest Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 132,107 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,378 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in NICE were worth $22,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NICE by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 24,290 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,125,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares in the last quarter. HMI Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of NICE by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. HMI Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,642,770 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $279,008,000 after buying an additional 186,600 shares in the last quarter. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NICE during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,047,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of NICE during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,109,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in shares of NICE by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 108,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,356,000 after buying an additional 20,922 shares in the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NICE Price Performance

Shares of NICE stock opened at $155.01 on Monday. NICE Ltd. has a 1-year low of $137.19 and a 1-year high of $229.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.80. The company has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.05.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.96 by ($0.71). NICE had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 16.18%. The business had revenue of $721.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.47 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NICE Ltd. will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on NICE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NICE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NICE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of NICE from $279.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of NICE from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of NICE from $286.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NICE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.29.

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 enable 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.