Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 310,614 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 30.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,621 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 310,614 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.11% of First Merchants worth $30,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 28,184 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 24.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.6% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,657 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.1%

First Merchants stock opened at $42.06 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $45.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average of $40.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The firm had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.44%.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.