Michael J. Stewart Sells 7,248 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $40.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.05. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.67. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.