First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Position Boosted by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 809.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.9 %

First Merchants stock opened at $36.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

First Merchants 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.