Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 519,257 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 71,472 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.89% of First Merchants worth $20,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth about $470,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,092,101,000 after acquiring an additional 26,691,490 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 104,763 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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First Merchants Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FRME traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.31. The stock had a trading volume of 220,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,479. The stock's 50 day moving average is $41.91 and its 200 day moving average is $40.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research 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, First Merchants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.