Nicolet Bankshares Inc. $NIC Stake Lessened by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NYSE:NIC) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nicolet Bankshares were worth $2,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 888,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,793,000 after purchasing an additional 45,950 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 745,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,205,000 after purchasing an additional 8,147 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 0.9% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 234,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Nicolet Bankshares by 2.0% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 141,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,609,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.3% during 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. 43.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NIC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Nicolet Bankshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nicolet Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.67.

Nicolet Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NIC opened at $122.51 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.76. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.90 and a 1-year high of $141.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $127.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.66.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.32. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 26.39% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The business had revenue of $102.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.83 million. On average, research analysts expect that Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert J. Weyers purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $115.73 per share, for a total transaction of $347,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,037,912.50. This trade represents a 12.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric James Witczak sold 1,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.42, for a total value of $221,398.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,029,377.42. This represents a 5.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 3,370 shares of company stock worth $390,760. Insiders own 14.20% of the company’s stock.

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.