Schroder Investment Management Group Has $11.43 Million Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Schroder Investment Management Group cut its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 285,563 shares of the bank's stock after selling 69,016 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.49% of First Merchants worth $11,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,864,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 2,420.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,194 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 75,092 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 181.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,155 shares of the bank's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,612 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 41.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,772 shares of the bank's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,888 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 82,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,062,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $35.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 346,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,750. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.95.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

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.