Insider Selling: First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Insider Sells $136,469.83 in Stock

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) insider Eva Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $42.05 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.79 and a 200-day moving average of $38.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.94. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $45.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $178.36 million for 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 9.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 1.0% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.