First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.69. The stock had a trading volume of 132,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,939. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.32. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $24.52 and a twelve month high of $38.16.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.92%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in First Merchants by 76.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 14.8% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 61,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 7,921 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 37.1% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 146,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,109,000 after buying an additional 39,577 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth about $229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.