First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Holdings Cut by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. trimmed its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,230 shares of the bank's stock after selling 14,817 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.41% of First Merchants worth $8,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $79,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.85. The company had a trading volume of 49,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 258,364. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.20 and a one year high of $45.08. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.32.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. First Merchants's payout ratio is 46.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Stephens lowered shares of First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three 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 price target of $41.60.

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.