Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) Stock Price

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $260.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 28.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NICE. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of NICE from $315.00 to $279.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of NICE from $176.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NICE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $215.00) on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of NICE from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.60.

NICE Stock Performance

Shares of NICE opened at $155.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $170.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.95. NICE has a 1 year low of $147.38 and a 1 year high of $270.73.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.96 by ($0.71). The firm had revenue of $721.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.47 million. NICE had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that NICE will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NICE

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in NICE by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 160 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its stake in shares of NICE by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NICE by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in shares of NICE by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP boosted its stake in shares of NICE by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.