NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its stake in NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,286,765 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 33,759 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 2.05% of NICE worth $218,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NICE. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NICE by 706.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 3,248 shares during the period. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. boosted its holdings in NICE by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 4,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of NICE by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,136 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,616 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in NICE by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in NICE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,284,000. 63.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NICE Price Performance

Shares of NICE opened at $159.06 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.28 and a 200-day moving average of $169.38. NICE Ltd. has a one year low of $137.19 and a one year high of $262.56. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of NICE from $176.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased 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, February 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of NICE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Barclays cut their target price on NICE from $286.00 to $226.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $215.00) on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.64.

NICE Company 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.