State Street Corp Decreases Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

State Street Corp cut its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,956,559 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 94,225 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $72,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter worth approximately $79,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $42.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.58. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. 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, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.60.

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.