First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,995 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FRME. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $35.65 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

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.