Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Takes Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 13,175 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 361.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.84. 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 50-day moving average price of $40.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.75. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $44.59.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 43.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.