Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on NICE (NASDAQ:NICE)

NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 3,241 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the typical volume of 2,191 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NICE. Citigroup cut their price target on NICE from $279.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NICE in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on NICE from $176.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northland Securities lowered their price target on NICE from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on NICE from $300.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NICE. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in NICE by 208.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 148 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of NICE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NICE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in NICE by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 63.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NICE Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ NICE traded up $1.35 on Thursday, hitting $146.24. The stock had a trading volume of 317,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,354. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.70. NICE has a one year low of $143.93 and a one year high of $270.73. The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.06.

NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by ($0.71). The business had revenue of $721.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $718.47 million. NICE had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 16.18%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NICE will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current 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 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.