Institutional investors have a lot riding on Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) with 46% ownership

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies Nicolet Bankshares' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 49% ownership
• Recent sales by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained US$60m in market cap last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 42% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Nicolet Bankshares, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Nicolet Bankshares

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Nicolet Bankshares?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Nicolet Bankshares. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Nicolet Bankshares' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Nicolet Bankshares. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 6.8% of shares outstanding. Nicolet Bankshares Inc, Asset Management Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 5.9% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 4.8% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Michael Daniels, the CEO has 0.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Nicolet Bankshares

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Nicolet Bankshares, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$1.4b, and insiders have US$159m worth of shares in their own names. That's quite significant. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

With a 43% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Nicolet Bankshares. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - Nicolet Bankshares has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.