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

First Merchants Corp lifted its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 457.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 581,863 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the period. First Merchants comprises about 0.8% of First Merchants Corp's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. First Merchants Corp owned 0.99% of First Merchants worth $19,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in First Merchants by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 511.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total value of $778,159.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 5.2 %

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 248,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,574. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $35.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.45. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $25.70 and a twelve month high of $42.44.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FRME. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.20.

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.

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