Odyssean LLC lifted its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME – Free Report) by 125.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,458 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,957 shares during the quarter. Odyssean LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,417,000 after buying an additional 15,165,815 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $232,637,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,272,000 after buying an additional 277,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,815,000 after buying an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,663,000 after buying an additional 104,260 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.
Insider Activity at First Merchants
In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
First Merchants Trading Down 0.1%
Shares of FRME opened at $42.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.97. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.66 and a 52-week high of $45.33.
First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%.The business had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. Analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.
First Merchants Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.44%.
First Merchants Profile
First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.
On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.
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