KBC Group NV Purchases Shares of 873 Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC)

KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NIC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,111,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 127,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,421,000 after buying an additional 11,516 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth about $778,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 26,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,791,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Susan L. Merkatoris sold 3,700 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.58, for a total value of $401,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $8,492,910.44. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 3,126 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.30, for a total transaction of $369,805.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,048,226. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,226 shares of company stock valued at $1,884,826 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 14.20% of the company’s stock.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

NYSE NIC opened at $129.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.62 and a 200-day moving average of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 0.76. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.05 and a 52-week high of $133.00.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.14. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 24.31% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The business had revenue of $89.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.08 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Nicolet Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Nicolet Bankshares’s payout ratio is 15.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NIC. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.