First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Purchased by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 623.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 78,598 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,734 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after acquiring an additional 26,691,490 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,014,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,778,000 after buying an additional 204,736 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after buying an additional 93,319 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.5 %

FRME opened at $40.24 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. Analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.