AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,705 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,650 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. US Bancorp DE raised its position in First Merchants by 10.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the third 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. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 12.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 6.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $39.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly 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 research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.