First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by State Street Corp

State Street Corp reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,956,559 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 94,225 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 3.33% of First Merchants worth $72,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FRME. CWM LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in First Merchants by 22.4% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,176 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $79,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $42.74 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.58. 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, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

First Merchants 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.