First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) is PL Capital Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

PL Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 704,333 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 47,000 shares during the quarter. First Merchants accounts for about 9.0% of PL Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. PL Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $26,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,539,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,926,000 after acquiring an additional 84,858 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 17.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 888,653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,722,000 after buying an additional 132,561 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in First Merchants by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,737 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,743,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,796,000 after buying an additional 35,795 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Raymond James raised their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $34.13 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $24.52 and a one year high of $38.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 10.29% and a net margin of 20.15%. The firm had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

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.