Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 6,737 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,185 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,737 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $6,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth about $1,446,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 100.4% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 247,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,984,000 after purchasing an additional 123,738 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 156.9% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 8,813 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

First Merchants Stock Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $36.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.93 and its 200 day moving average is $38.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 1.10. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 22.04%.The business had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

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.