Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $16.10 Million Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,119 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,669 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.74% of First Merchants worth $16,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in First Merchants during the second quarter worth $50,000. GGM Financials LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the third quarter valued at $64,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the third quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In related news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $38.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.62. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.13 and a 12-month high of $43.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

First Merchants Company 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.