Corient Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 623.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,598 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 67,734 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned about 0.13% of First Merchants worth $3,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of FRME opened at $40.24 on Friday. 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 $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.51. 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 (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (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, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.