Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 31,235 First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 31,235 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 361.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised 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 acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $41.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.98. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.