GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys New Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,182 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 30.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $42.37 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $44.66.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors 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 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Merchants news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,464.27. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.