PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 1,008 Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,573 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ FRME opened at $37.56 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.31. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

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.