Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases New Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 22,324 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,424 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of First Merchants 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 sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

First Merchants Stock Down 0.3%

First Merchants stock opened at $43.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.95. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

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

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.