First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 745,439 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 49,384 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.27% of First Merchants worth $29,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FRME. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in First Merchants by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in First Merchants by 123.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank's stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,133,000 after purchasing an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of First Merchants stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.13. 263,374 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $41.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.95. First Merchants Co. has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note 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 target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment 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 company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.20.

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.