American Century Companies Inc. Sells 538,704 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 47.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 588,719 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 538,704 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of First Merchants worth $22,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 19,375 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 6.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 941.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 97,504 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 42.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 raised their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of FRME opened at $36.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.93. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $43.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its 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. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.