Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 107,689 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,078,518 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 107,689 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of First Merchants worth $229,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 169.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 261,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after buying an additional 164,664 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $6,109,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 323,180 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,184,000 after purchasing an additional 147,704 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 97,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter valued at $2,749,000. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

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 transaction of $207,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $848,464.27. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of FRME opened at $39.08 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.55 and its 200 day moving average is $38.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.93. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.13 and a 12-month high of $44.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 21.49%.The business had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Research analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.75.

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.