Zhang Financial LLC Cuts Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Zhang Financial LLC cut its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,258 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,953,000 after buying an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 58,820 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 21,900 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.8 %

First Merchants stock opened at $40.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.97.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

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.