Piper Sandler Increases First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $42.50

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its target price increased by Piper Sandler from $41.00 to $42.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FRME. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Merchants from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $33.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.19. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.08. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $24.52 and a 12 month high of $38.16.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 106,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,960,000 after acquiring an additional 51,400 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 992,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,618,000 after purchasing an additional 71,527 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 335,292 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,328,000 after purchasing an additional 26,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 131.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 104,675 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% 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.