The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 432,341 First Merchants Corporation $FRME

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 432,341 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $18,889,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 19.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after buying an additional 19,375 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in First Merchants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 941.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after buying an additional 97,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.84. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.98. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 47.44%.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.