First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Separately, Raymond James lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of FRME opened at $33.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $24.52 and a 52-week high of $38.16. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The company had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.50 million. Analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $243,673,000 after acquiring an additional 32,126 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Merchants by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,001,000 after acquiring an additional 211,113 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 7.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 992,748 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,618,000 after acquiring an additional 71,527 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 89,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,632,000 after acquiring an additional 11,842 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.