Earnest Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in NiCE $NICE

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,958 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,822 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in NiCE were worth $19,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NICE. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiCE by 1.9% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 376,838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,559,000 after purchasing an additional 6,866 shares in the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiCE by 1.2% in the third quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 27,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of NiCE by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 232,244 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,624,000 after buying an additional 28,220 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of NiCE by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NiCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. 63.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NICE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on NiCE from $154.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $148.00 target price on shares of NiCE in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of NiCE in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of NiCE in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of NiCE in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.83.

NiCE Stock Down 0.8%

NICE stock opened at $117.39 on Monday. NiCE has a 52-week low of $94.65 and a 52-week high of $180.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $114.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.16. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.95.

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The technology company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $786.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $779.95 million. NiCE had a return on equity of 18.26% and a net margin of 20.78%.NiCE’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.02 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiCE will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

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

NiCE Company Profile

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.