Fmr LLC Raises Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

FMR LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 2,420.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,194 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 75,092 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 0.13% of First Merchants worth $2,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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 dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.17. 263,612 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,503. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.50. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.20%.

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.