Corient Private Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 623.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 78,598 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 67,734 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned about 0.13% of First Merchants worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the bank's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 115,062 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,590,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $1,601,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $19,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

First Merchants stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.07. 199,921 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 244,911. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Remove Ads

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS 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, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded 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. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

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.