Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 54,265 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 67.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,136 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 54,265 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.23% of First Merchants worth $5,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.9 %

First Merchants stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.99. The stock had a trading volume of 292,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,037. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.63. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

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.