HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,613 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,382 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in NBT Bancorp by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in NBT Bancorp by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,755 shares of the bank’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in NBT Bancorp by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in NBT Bancorp by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,495 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NBT Bancorp

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director Heidi M. Hoeller purchased 678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.45 per share, for a total transaction of $32,849.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,872.65. The trade was a 11.77 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total transaction of $242,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. The trade was a 16.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NBTB has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens upgraded NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.50.

NBT Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NBTB opened at $42.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.48. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.93 and a 52 week high of $52.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.79.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 9.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

NBT Bancorp Profile

NBT Bancorp Inc, a financial holding company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management services. Its deposit products include demand deposit, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises indirect and direct consumer, home equity, mortgages, business banking loans, and commercial loans; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, agricultural, and commercial construction loans; and residential real estate loans.