Barclays PLC Raises Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 89.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,290 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 53,033 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.19% of First Merchants worth $4,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank's stock valued at $115,682,000 after buying an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,677 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 93,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.60.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.36 on Monday, hitting $40.53. 198,806 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,368. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.88. 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 company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.05. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's payout ratio is 46.20%.

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.