13,028 Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME Acquired by Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,028 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial cut First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $45.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.93.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 22.04%.The firm had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

First Merchants Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.