First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Purchased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 183,252 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $7,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.0% in the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 1.5% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in First Merchants by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 98.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 4.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.8%

First Merchants stock opened at $35.48 on Monday. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

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.