Monarch Capital Management Inc. Sells 800 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,918 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the period. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $40.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.88. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm 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 8.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. 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 currently 46.20%.

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.