First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,995 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after purchasing an additional 26,691,490 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $19,014,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $252,780,000 after buying an additional 138,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 2,420.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 75,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 2.4 %

FRME opened at $35.65 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on FRME shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.