First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Bought by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 185.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,338 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,706 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 123.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 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 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.51.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.