Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 21,486 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 137.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,124 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,486 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co owned about 0.06% of First Merchants worth $1,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 19.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,798,000 after purchasing an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,370,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 97,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research downgraded First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.75.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $38.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.62. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $43.22. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.93.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm 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 9.58%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.37% 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.