William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 118,495 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 16.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,495 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.46% of First Merchants worth $31,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 19.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 97,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FRME. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Merchants Trading Down 4.8%

FRME stock opened at $39.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $44.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.62.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

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.