Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,696 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,886 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $34.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.72 and its 200 day moving average is $32.80. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $24.52 and a 52 week high of $38.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.87. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.39% and a return on equity of 10.97%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. Research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FRME. StockNews.com cut shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Company 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.