Nice (NASDAQ:NICE) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Nice's share price opened at $173.49, showing a significant increase from the previous closing price of $162.42, and last traded at $169.95.
• Analysts have given Nice a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $209.75, indicating positive sentiment toward the stock.
• In their latest quarterly earnings report, Nice reported a 6.2% year-over-year revenue increase and earnings per share of $2.87, exceeding analyst expectations.

Nice (NASDAQ:NICE - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $162.42, but opened at $173.49. Nice shares last traded at $169.95, with a volume of 479,559 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NICE has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Nice from $214.00 to $211.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson raised Nice to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Nice in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Nice from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Nice in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.75.

Nice Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $165.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.39.

Nice (NASDAQ:NICE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The technology company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $700.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.46 million. Nice had a return on equity of 16.37% and a net margin of 16.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nice will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nice

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nice during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nice by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 150 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nice by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 160 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nice by 99.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 199 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nice during the first quarter valued at $34,000. 63.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.