Larry Myers Sells 10,000 Shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Director Larry Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.61 on Monday, hitting $41.48. 133,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,511. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.85. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after purchasing an additional 19,375 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% in 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 during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.