Fisher Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 375,276 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 51,843 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $14,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FRME. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 778,328 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,172,000 after acquiring an additional 16,286 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 9,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $947,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,417,000 after acquiring an additional 15,165,815 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $40.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.90. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 42.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.33.

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.