NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) was downgraded by Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $119.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $184.00. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.68% from the stock’s current price.

NICE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of NiCE in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of NiCE in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of NiCE in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of NiCE in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of NiCE in a report on Friday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NiCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.17.

NiCE Stock Down 7.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NICE opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.97. NiCE has a 52 week low of $94.65 and a 52 week high of $180.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $113.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.84.

NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The technology company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $786.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $779.95 million. NiCE had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.02 earnings per share. NiCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.850-11.050 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.550 EPS. Analysts expect that NiCE will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

NiCE declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new position in NiCE in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in NiCE by 65.3% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in NiCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of NiCE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of NiCE by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 478 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NiCE

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.