6,571 Shares in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Purchased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,571 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in First Merchants by 27.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME opened at $32.80 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 12-month low of $25.70 and a 12-month high of $38.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.27 and a 200-day moving average of $34.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased 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 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.