Denali Advisors LLC Sells 14,800 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Denali Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,500 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,800 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.29% of First Merchants worth $6,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 123.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 13,370 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $607,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 6.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FRME opened at $42.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.07. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.