First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,564 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 7.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 992,748 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,618,000 after buying an additional 71,527 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.5% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 335,292 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,328,000 after purchasing an additional 26,159 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 131.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 104,675 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 5.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,673 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,796,000 after purchasing an additional 35,795 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.5% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James raised their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $32.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. First Merchants Co. has a 1-year low of $24.52 and a 1-year high of $38.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.76.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The firm had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.