First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,389,058 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 72,320 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $55,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in First Merchants by 123.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 13,370 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.59. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

About First Merchants

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.