Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $470,000 in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,789 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in First Merchants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 83,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,113,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $41.04. 426,071 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 245,786. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.22 and a 200-day moving average of $40.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.94%.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.