Millennium Management LLC Has $2.81 Million Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,291 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,899 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of First Merchants worth $2,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 26,772 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 184,862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,452,000 after acquiring an additional 53,463 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $243,673,000 after purchasing an additional 32,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 146,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 39,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $37.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.02. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $42.44. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

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.