UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $3.83 Million Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,823 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,308 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.18% of First Merchants worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 511.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth $79,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.0 %

First Merchants stock opened at $43.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a 1-year low of $30.55 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

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.