KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $499,000 in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,500 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 3,889.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,092,101,000 after purchasing an additional 26,691,490 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,120,000 after buying an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,962,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 820,649 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,736,000 after acquiring an additional 19,932 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.26. 346,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,750. The business's 50 day moving average price is $41.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. 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 research report 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James dropped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.