12,628 Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME Acquired by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,628 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in First Merchants by 137.4% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,400,000 after buying an additional 21,486 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in First Merchants by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,756,000 after buying an additional 527,545 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth $1,874,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of FRME stock opened at $43.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.65 and a 200-day moving average of $39.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.66 and a 12-month high of $44.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.85.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.