Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 140,900 shares, a drop of 22.6% from the October 15th total of 182,100 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Nicolet Bankshares Stock Performance

Nicolet Bankshares stock traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $111.84. 33,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,300. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $99.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.35. Nicolet Bankshares has a twelve month low of $72.70 and a twelve month high of $116.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.13. Nicolet Bankshares had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $91.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.50 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nicolet Bankshares will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Nicolet Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Nicolet Bankshares's payout ratio is 14.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Nicolet Bankshares news, Director Robert Bruce Atwell sold 2,908 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.22, for a total transaction of $300,163.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,696,824.30. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael E. Daniels sold 8,003 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $792,136.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 72,402 shares in the company, valued at $7,166,349.96. This represents a 9.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,156 shares of company stock worth $7,324,308. Company insiders own 16.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nicolet Bankshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,704,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 589,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,488 shares of the company's stock worth $48,783,000 after purchasing an additional 16,952 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nicolet Bankshares by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 381,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,507,000 after buying an additional 13,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nicolet Bankshares by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 303,391 shares of the company's stock worth $29,019,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Nicolet Bankshares from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nicolet Bankshares presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Nicolet Bankshares Company 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.