Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,910 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,118 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.15% of NICE worth $24,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel lifted its stake in NICE by 5,255.0% in the fourth quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 6,426 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after buying an additional 6,306 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NICE by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,717 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,126,000 after purchasing an additional 9,241 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in NICE by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,566 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in NICE during the fourth quarter worth about $4,407,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NICE during the fourth quarter worth about $807,000. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NICE shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of NICE in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com lowered NICE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of NICE in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on NICE from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of NICE in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.64.

NICE Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NICE opened at $180.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $176.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.04. The company has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. NICE Ltd. has a 12 month low of $149.54 and a 12 month high of $270.73.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The technology company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $659.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $654.81 million. NICE had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 14.92%. On average, equities analysts expect that NICE Ltd. will post 8.4 EPS for the current year.

NICE Profile

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.