William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $28.63 Million Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 763,904 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 79,270 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $28,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 9,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $947,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,417,000 after buying an additional 15,165,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in 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. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Merchants news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $40.14 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.86. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.81.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $201.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 42.35%.

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.