Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $233,000 Investment in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,835 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 123.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 13,370 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME stock opened at $44.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.07. First Merchants Co. has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.73.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.