Peregrine Capital Management LLC Grows Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,449 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 21,331 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of First Merchants worth $6,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 83,696 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of FRME traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.42. The company had a trading volume of 225,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,660. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.84. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

First Merchants Company 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.