NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Hold Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of NiCE in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on NiCE from $154.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Citizens Jmp set a $200.00 price target on shares of NiCE in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NiCE from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $148.00 target price on shares of NiCE in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.83.

NiCE Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ NICE opened at $111.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.75. NiCE has a twelve month low of $94.65 and a twelve month high of $180.61.

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The technology company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.01. NiCE had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $786.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.02 earnings per share. NiCE’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. NiCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.850-11.050 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiCE will post 9.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiCE declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiCE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RPD Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in NiCE in the fourth quarter valued at $100,154,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of NiCE in the 4th quarter worth about $79,944,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiCE by 116.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,226,920 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $207,238,000 after purchasing an additional 659,170 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiCE during the third quarter valued at about $88,599,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in NiCE by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 880,059 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,482,000 after buying an additional 233,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.34% of the company’s stock.

About NiCE

NiCE Ltd is a global software provider specializing in solutions for customer engagement, financial crime prevention, public safety, workforce optimization and border security. Its product offerings include cloud-native and on-premises platforms that leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and automation to help organizations enhance customer experiences, streamline operations and ensure regulatory compliance. NiCE’s portfolio addresses the needs of contact centers, financial institutions, government agencies and enterprises across a broad range of industries.

In customer engagement, NiCE delivers tools for omnichannel interaction management, real-time and historical analytics, workforce management, and quality management.