UBS Group AG Boosts Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 165,218 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,222 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $6,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter worth about $2,105,000. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter worth about $1,297,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in First Merchants by 121.1% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,714,000 after acquiring an additional 53,953 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,721,000 after acquiring an additional 73,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter worth about $754,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $39.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.71. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.66 and a 52 week high of $43.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.