Vest Financial LLC Purchases 4,827 Shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. $NIC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) by 17.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,562 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,827 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Nicolet Bankshares were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NIC. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 519,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,088,000 after purchasing an additional 174,361 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,553,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 3.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,409,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 2.0% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 141,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,609,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. 43.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Hubert Phillip Moore, Jr. bought 240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $115.84 per share, for a total transaction of $27,801.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,816,580.48. This represents a 0.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert J. Weyers purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $115.73 per share, for a total transaction of $347,190.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,037,912.50. The trade was a 12.90% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 3,370 shares of company stock worth $390,760 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 16.40% of the company’s stock.

Nicolet Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NIC opened at $144.84 on Thursday. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a one year low of $97.90 and a one year high of $145.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.35.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $80.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.67 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 26.98% and a return on equity of 12.65%. Research analysts predict that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nicolet Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Nicolet Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NIC. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Nicolet Bankshares from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nicolet Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.00.

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.