Black Creek Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)

Black Creek Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) by 26.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 937,758 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 194,508 shares during the quarter. NICE accounts for 6.8% of Black Creek Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.47% of NICE worth $193,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NICE during the second quarter worth about $240,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in NICE by 10.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,825 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,572,000 after buying an additional 2,887 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its position in NICE by 4.2% during the second quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 360,875 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,521,000 after buying an additional 14,550 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in NICE during the second quarter worth about $543,000. Finally, KLR Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NICE during the second quarter worth about $222,000. 63.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $343.00 price objective on shares of NICE in a report on Monday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised NICE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, October 16th. DA Davidson began coverage on NICE in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded NICE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of NICE in a report on Thursday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.00.

NICE Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NICE stock traded up $0.33 on Wednesday, hitting $179.23. 36,393 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,126. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.89. NICE Ltd. has a one year low of $149.54 and a one year high of $231.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The technology company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $581.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.30 million. NICE had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that NICE Ltd. will post 6.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About NICE

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 CX that discovers automation opportunities for self-service; digital-entry points solutions that 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.