Nicolet Bankshares Inc. $NIC Position Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 737,578 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,474 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Nicolet Bankshares were worth $89,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 49,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,982,000 after purchasing an additional 11,729 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,850,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 540,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 32,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 13,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 4,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

Nicolet Bankshares Price Performance

NIC stock opened at $140.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a one year low of $114.11 and a one year high of $163.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.96.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $134.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $129.74 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 21.89%. On average, analysts forecast that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Nicolet Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 15.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 3,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.82, for a total value of $495,754.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,101,970.28. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 13,036 shares of company stock valued at $1,992,022 over the last ninety days. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiary, Nicolet National Bank, it provides a range of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations across northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company’s branch network, digital banking platform and commercial lending centers support its focus on community banking and regional growth.

The company offers deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.