Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Price

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 36.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FRME. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $35.91 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,866,000 after buying an additional 9,679 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in First Merchants by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after purchasing an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.