Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $153,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.6 %

First Merchants stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.39. 255,128 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,301. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.59.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About First Merchants

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.