Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,381,405 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,210 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.85% of First Merchants worth $127,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,815,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,127,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,180,000 after buying an additional 27,965 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,721,000 after buying an additional 73,725 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 16.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,788,000 after buying an additional 118,495 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in First Merchants by 2.0% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 760,551 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,129,000 after buying an additional 15,143 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $848,464.27. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of FRME stock opened at $36.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.54. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business 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 firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s 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.