16,774 Shares in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Acquired by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,774 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 3,889.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after buying an additional 26,691,490 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,937 shares of the bank's stock worth $252,780,000 after acquiring an additional 138,689 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 820,649 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,736,000 after acquiring an additional 19,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 749,055 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,880,000 after acquiring an additional 66,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.1%

First Merchants stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.95. The company had a trading volume of 258,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,749. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $36.92 and its 200-day moving average is $40.17.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. On average, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.40.

About First Merchants

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.