Sei Investments Co. Sells 9,123 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 252,731 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,123 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.43% of First Merchants worth $10,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in First Merchants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on FRME shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) 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 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Trading Down 8.9 %

Shares of FRME traded down $3.58 on Thursday, reaching $36.53. 405,885 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 256,565. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.71. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

First Merchants 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.