PL Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 3,889.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 26,691,490 shares during the quarter. First Merchants accounts for 12.8% of PL Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. PL Capital Advisors LLC owned 46.66% of First Merchants worth $1,092,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in First Merchants by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 83,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.9 %

First Merchants stock traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.80. The stock had a trading volume of 448,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,828. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.07. 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 current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.15.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's payout ratio is 40.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

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.