Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 935 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,440 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 935 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at $396,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2,420.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 75,092 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 181.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 4,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in First Merchants by 41.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,772 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 4,888 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FRME. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.6 %

FRME opened at $40.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.22 and its 200 day moving average is $40.69. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.94%.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.