First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI decreased its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,834 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 710 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FRME. US Bancorp DE grew its position in First Merchants by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 25.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,897 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $37.05 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $26.85 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.02%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.60.

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.