William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 118,495 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,495 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $31,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,815,000 after buying an additional 6,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,127,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,180,000 after acquiring an additional 27,965 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.0% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 760,551 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,129,000 after acquiring an additional 15,143 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in First Merchants by 2.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 691,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,072,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 397,123 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,210,000 after purchasing an additional 28,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.75.

First Merchants Trading Down 4.8%

First Merchants stock opened at $39.08 on Monday. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $44.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.93.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.