Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 73,725 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 73,725 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $35,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Kennondale Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 42.7% during the third quarter. Kennondale Capital Management LLC now owns 19,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 5,764 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in First Merchants by 137.4% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,400,000 after buying an additional 21,486 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 16.4% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,788,000 after buying an additional 118,495 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 149.9% in the third quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 29,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 17,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 14.5% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 49,356 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ FRME opened at $37.55 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.57 and its 200-day moving average is $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.93. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

First Merchants Company 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.