First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,516,562 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,022 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.99% of First Merchants worth $140,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.30 on Tuesday, hitting $35.91. 348,361 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 264,125. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.95. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $39.06 and its 200 day moving average is $40.59. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Raymond James decreased their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group upgraded 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. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.40.

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.