First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Acquired by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,800 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 97,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,632 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 18,817 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 42,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $34.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.77 and a 200 day moving average of $33.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $24.52 and a one year high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.87. First Merchants had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.50 million. As a group, research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Company 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.