Insider Selling: First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Director Sells $415,000.00 in Stock

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Director Larry Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.59 on Thursday. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.36. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.85.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 43.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in First Merchants by 68.9% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on FRME. Weiss Ratings downgraded First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.33.

About First Merchants

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.