First Merchants Corporation $FRME Stock Position Increased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,699 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 36,563 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $5,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FRME. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 19.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,798,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 97,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.48 on Wednesday. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.59.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 47.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on FRME. 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 shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants 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.