First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 478,054 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,444 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $17,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $31.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $153.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.95 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 20.15%. On average, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.35%.

About First Merchants

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.