First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Purchased by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,800 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at $81,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FRME. Raymond James lifted their price target on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $34.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.08. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $24.52 and a 52-week high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 20.15%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 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, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.