American Century Companies Inc. Has $55.41 Million Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,389,058 shares of the bank's stock after selling 72,320 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.37% of First Merchants worth $55,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in First Merchants by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $153,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First Merchants Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of FRME traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.39. 255,128 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,211. 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 company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average is $42.22 and its 200-day moving average is $40.69. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

First Merchants 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.