Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 67.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.23% of First Merchants worth $5,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in First Merchants by 78.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $37.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.93 and its 200 day moving average is $38.58. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.06.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.