Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Nicolet Bankshares Inc. $NIC

Key Points

• Avantax Planning Partners acquired 8,556 Nicolet Bankshares shares in the third quarter, worth approximately $1.395 million; institutional investors collectively own 43.06% of the stock.
• Nicolet reported quarterly EPS of $3.15, topping the $3.07 consensus estimate, and revenue of $174.43 million, also above expectations.
• Analysts give NIC a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $184.80 average price target. The company also declared a $0.36 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 0.8% yield.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,395,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 58.0% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co purchased a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $88,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 151.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 607 shares of the company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 842 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Atwell sold 3,556 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.22, for a total value of $608,858.32. Following the sale, the director owned 34,483 shares in the company, valued at $5,904,179.26. The trade was a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nicolet Bankshares Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE NIC opened at $173.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 0.67. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.33 and a fifty-two week high of $180.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $174.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.64 million. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 22.11%. On average, analysts forecast that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 12.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Nicolet Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NIC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nicolet Bankshares from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a+)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Nicolet Bankshares from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Stephens increased their price objective on Nicolet Bankshares from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nicolet Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.80.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NIC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.