First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC has reduced its holdings in First Merchants Corporation by 56.2%, now owning 9,946 shares valued at $402,000 according to recent SEC filings.
• First Merchants reported earnings of $0.98 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.94, while projected earnings for the fiscal year stand at 3.79 EPS.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share on September 19, which reflects an annualized yield of 3.4%.

AlphaQuest LLC cut its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 56.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,946 shares of the bank's stock after selling 12,759 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in First Merchants were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 314.5% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at $56,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on FRME shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $41.24. 184,643 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.10. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.80 and a 200-day moving average of $38.94.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

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.