StockNews.com Downgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to Sell

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME opened at $35.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.08. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $24.52 and a 52-week high of $38.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.39% and a return on equity of 10.97%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.50 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in First Merchants by 4,586.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,982,000 after acquiring an additional 685,758 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,400,000. rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,572,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,001,000 after acquiring an additional 211,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 2,694.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 201,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,615,000 after acquiring an additional 194,595 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.