Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Nicolet Bankshares Inc. $NIC

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. invested approximately $1.43 million in Nicolet Bankshares, acquiring 13,157 shares, which represents a 0.09% stake in the company as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Nicolet Bankshares Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc., have also increased their holdings in the company, highlighting continued institutional interest.
• Nicolet Bankshares reported a strong quarterly performance with earnings per share of $2.35, exceeding analysts' expectations, and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.32 to be paid in September.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,434,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Nicolet Bankshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 134,755 shares of the company's stock worth $14,137,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,262 shares of the company's stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,013 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Nicolet Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Nicolet Bankshares by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NIC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Maxim Group increased their price target on Nicolet Bankshares from $131.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Nicolet Bankshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $122.50) on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Nicolet Bankshares from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nicolet Bankshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 6,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.47, for a total transaction of $962,900.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,772,663.40. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric James Witczak sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $698,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,039,492.77. This represents a 14.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,056 shares of company stock worth $2,096,949 in the last 90 days. 16.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nicolet Bankshares Price Performance

Nicolet Bankshares stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.80. The company had a trading volume of 65,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,962. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.07 and a 12-month high of $141.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $133.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.36.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.21. Nicolet Bankshares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 25.12%.The company had revenue of $95.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.89 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Nicolet Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.70%.

Nicolet Bankshares Profile

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.