Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 2,447 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,012 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.06% of First Merchants worth $1,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $36.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.10. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.39.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

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.