50,000 Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME Purchased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 50,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,874,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bailard Inc. lifted its position in First Merchants by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 22,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 205,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,691,000 after purchasing an additional 24,600 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 38,311 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in First Merchants by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 165,218 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 42,222 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.86. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $43.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.58.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.The firm had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

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.