First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 375,276 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 51,843 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.65% of First Merchants worth $14,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in First Merchants by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GGM Financials LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.35%.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.