Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,816 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.65% of First Merchants worth $36,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,539,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,926,000 after purchasing an additional 84,858 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 992,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,618,000 after acquiring an additional 71,527 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,737 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,796,000 after acquiring an additional 35,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in First Merchants by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 335,292 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,328,000 after acquiring an additional 26,159 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $34.98 on Tuesday. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.52 and a fifty-two week high of $38.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Profile

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.