Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,826 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 1,013.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.01. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $24.52 and a 1 year high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 3.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 36.36%.

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.