476,657 Shares in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 476,657 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $19,014,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.81% of First Merchants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in First Merchants by 270.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group raised 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $35.53 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 40.94%.

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.