Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,766 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in NICE were worth $3,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NICE. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in NICE by 10.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,538 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NICE by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,331 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors bought a new position in NICE during the 1st quarter valued at about $224,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of NICE by 134.4% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NICE in the first quarter worth approximately $813,000. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NICE Trading Up 2.5 %

NICE opened at $189.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.69 and its 200-day moving average is $179.37. NICE Ltd. has a 52-week low of $151.52 and a 52-week high of $270.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.04.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The technology company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $664.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.10 million. NICE had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts expect that NICE Ltd. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NICE. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of NICE from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of NICE in a report on Friday, August 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of NICE in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on NICE from $320.00 to $286.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $269.64.

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.