ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 7,210 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 195,004 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,210 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $7,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in First Merchants by 270.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of FRME opened at $39.18 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.75 and its 200 day moving average is $40.57. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.40.

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.