Geode Capital Management LLC Has $55.55 Million Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Geode Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,392,259 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,562 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.37% of First Merchants worth $55,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in First Merchants by 270.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set 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 upped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.53. The stock had a trading volume of 415,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,155. The business's 50 day moving average is $40.28 and its 200-day moving average is $40.54. 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 company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.95. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's payout ratio is 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.