BlackRock Inc. Takes $232.64 Million Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,324,728 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $232,637,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.08% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings 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 worth $568,417,000 after purchasing an additional 15,165,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter valued at $18,156,000. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 115.0% during the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 633,668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,750,000 after buying an additional 338,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 252.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 321,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,122,000 after buying an additional 230,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.67 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.66 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.97.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.