15,228 Shares in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Bought by Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc.

Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,228 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 10.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,020 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 4,066 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,829 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,953,000 after buying an additional 4,349 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank's stock worth $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 58,820 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 21,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock traded up $0.60 on Monday, hitting $38.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 218,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,334. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $41.93 and its 200-day moving average is $38.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.60.

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.

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