Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) Stock Price

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Citigroup from $279.00 to $228.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 41.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on NICE. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $215.00) on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer cut shares of NICE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of NICE from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of NICE from $260.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of NICE from $176.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.64.

NICE Stock Performance

NASDAQ NICE traded up $5.83 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $161.22. The stock had a trading volume of 333,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,853. NICE has a 52-week low of $147.38 and a 52-week high of $270.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.08 and a 200 day moving average of $173.01. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.06.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.96 by ($0.71). NICE had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $721.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.47 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NICE will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NICE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NICE. Creative Planning increased its stake in NICE by 2.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,608 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of NICE by 48.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 277 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in NICE by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in NICE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,348,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NICE by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,858 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.34% of the company’s stock.

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.