Raymond James & Associates Purchases 48,230 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Rating) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,010 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,230 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.23% of First Merchants worth $5,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BRR OpCo LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 9.7% during the third quarter. BRR OpCo LLC now owns 68,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,656,000 after buying an additional 6,062 shares during the period. River Oaks Capital LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 103.0% during the 3rd quarter. River Oaks Capital LLC now owns 24,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 12,332 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 285,321 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,036,000 after purchasing an additional 37,831 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Merchants by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,799,943 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $108,303,000 after purchasing an additional 39,119 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 216,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,912,000 after purchasing an additional 13,003 shares during the period. 71.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. StockNews.com began coverage on First Merchants in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on First Merchants from $43.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th.

First Merchants Stock Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $27.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.52 and a fifty-two week high of $45.04.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 32.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gary Lehman sold 1,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $58,731.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,450.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Profile

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First Merchants Corp. (Indiana) is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It also offers personal banking, business banking, mortgage lending, treasury management services, and wealth management. The company was founded in September 1982 and is headquartered in Muncie, IN.