PL Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 26,691,490 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3,889.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,377,823 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,691,490 shares during the quarter. First Merchants comprises about 12.8% of PL Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. PL Capital Advisors LLC owned about 46.66% of First Merchants worth $1,092,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,120,000 after purchasing an additional 11,430 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,864,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after acquiring an additional 93,319 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $42.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.62 and a 200-day moving average of $40.00. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on FRME. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.