Bank of America Corp DE Buys 19,063 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 120,622 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.21% of First Merchants worth $4,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in First Merchants by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,969 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,866,000 after buying an additional 9,679 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted 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 worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 104,763 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.87. The stock had a trading volume of 209,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,821. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.36. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

First Merchants Company 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.