First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Bought by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG raised its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,218 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 42,222 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.29% of First Merchants worth $6,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FRME. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 19.5% during 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 during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in 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 worth $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 941.6% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 42.6% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.86. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.66 and a 52-week high of $43.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In related news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants 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 in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.