Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 59,261 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 94.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,349 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 59,261 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,417,000 after purchasing an additional 15,165,815 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 633,668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,750,000 after buying an additional 338,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Merchants by 8.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $139,272,000 after buying an additional 277,977 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 252.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 321,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,122,000 after buying an additional 230,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in First Merchants by 169.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 261,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 164,664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $43.63 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.55. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 17.05%. As a group, analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.44%.

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.