First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,924 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,787 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 1.19% of First Merchants worth $24,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in First Merchants by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.85 on Monday, reaching $40.50. The stock had a trading volume of 112,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,698. First Merchants Co. has a 12-month low of $25.70 and a 12-month high of $42.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total value of $778,159.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Stephens raised their target price on First Merchants from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.