Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 44,594 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 958,612 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 44,594 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.63% of First Merchants worth $38,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 13,370 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $607,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.93 and a 200-day moving average of $40.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously 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 previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.