Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $19.01 Million in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 476,657 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $19,014,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.81% of First Merchants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,225,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 177,640 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,086,000 after purchasing an additional 5,115 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 199,296 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,950,000 after purchasing an additional 6,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $1,660,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on FRME. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Raymond James reduced their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.40. 312,743 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 262,852. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. 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.