OneAscent Financial Services LLC Acquires Shares of 97,810 First Merchants Corporation $FRME

OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 97,810 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 28,184 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 24.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in First Merchants by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,070,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. 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 increased their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $41.94 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.96. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.66 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted 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 company had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.