Zhang Financial LLC Has $250,000 Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Zhang Financial LLC cut its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,258 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,778,000 after purchasing an additional 204,736 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,682,000 after buying an additional 180,323 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,577,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 93,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,683,000 after buying an additional 75,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.60.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $40.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.76 and its 200 day moving average is $38.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

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.