First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Stake Increased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,816 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $36,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in First Merchants by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 42,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 7,737 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 21,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in First Merchants by 27.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in First Merchants by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 97,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.8 %

First Merchants stock opened at $34.98 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $24.52 and a one year high of $38.16.

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.