ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 8,527 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 175,476 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,527 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $6,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FRME. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $235,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $36.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

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.