Sei Investments Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 252,731 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,123 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.43% of First Merchants worth $10,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in First Merchants by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 40,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth $396,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,864,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 2,420.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 75,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 181.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of 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 reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $40.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.65. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.94%.

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.