27,675 Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,675 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,417,000 after acquiring an additional 15,165,815 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $232,637,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Merchants by 8.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,272,000 after purchasing an additional 277,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in First Merchants by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,815,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,663,000 after purchasing an additional 104,260 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

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

First Merchants Stock Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $41.56 on Wednesday. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $45.33. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.96 and its 200 day moving average is $40.98.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 47.44%.

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.