GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 10,900.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,231 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 21,038 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 8.6% during the fourth 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in First Merchants by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,667,000 after buying an additional 12,600 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in First Merchants by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,812,000 after buying an additional 19,063 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $470,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $35.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.79. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.03 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 19.63%. The company had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

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.