First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target Raised to $51.00 at Piper Sandler

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $49.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.69% from the stock’s current price.

FRME has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.09. 61,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 377,570. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $44.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.47 and a 200-day moving average of $39.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.85.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Merchants will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 121.1% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,721,000 after buying an additional 73,725 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,756,000 after buying an additional 527,545 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 137.4% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,124 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after buying an additional 21,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,788,000 after buying an additional 118,495 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

About First Merchants

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.