Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $130,000 Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 94.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,349 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 59,261 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth $728,000. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in First Merchants by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,385,000 after buying an additional 83,667 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in First Merchants by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 147,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,720,000 after buying an additional 36,563 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in First Merchants by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in First Merchants by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 725,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $43.63 on Tuesday. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.55.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 17.05%.The company had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.78 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 47.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

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.