First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target Raised to $42.50

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $41.00 to $42.50 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered First Merchants from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James upped their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $34.19 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.24. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $24.52 and a 12-month high of $38.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.