Jane Street Group LLC Grows Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,696 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.14% of First Merchants worth $3,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of FRME. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 43,275 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 93,319 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the third quarter valued at $153,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 82,318 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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 First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $40.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for 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 previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.