Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 731,413 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 9,265 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.25% of First Merchants worth $29,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.28. The stock had a trading volume of 405,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,568. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.48. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.05.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.