NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) Shares Down 4.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) traded down 4.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $173.13 and last traded at $173.56. 180,414 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 512,702 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of NICE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded NICE from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $215.00) on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of NICE in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of NICE from $300.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.50.

NICE Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.08. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Institutional Trading of NICE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in NICE by 21.6% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,575,645 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $273,642,000 after acquiring an additional 279,375 shares during the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NICE by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,775 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $233,325,000 after buying an additional 250,334 shares during the period. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NICE by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 1,188,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,168,000 after acquiring an additional 394,715 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of NICE by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,056,537 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $181,693,000 after acquiring an additional 117,749 shares during the period. Finally, RGM Capital LLC increased its position in shares of NICE by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. RGM Capital LLC now owns 1,051,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $180,759,000 after buying an additional 116,629 shares in the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.