First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 56.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,323 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,449 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in First Merchants were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after acquiring an additional 26,691,490 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,937 shares of the bank's stock valued at $252,780,000 after buying an additional 138,689 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 820,649 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,736,000 after purchasing an additional 19,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in First Merchants by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 745,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,736,000 after acquiring an additional 49,384 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FRME. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.40.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $37.89. 156,884 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 264,975. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 1.02. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week 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. The company's 50-day moving average price is $37.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.43.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. 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. First Merchants's payout ratio is 40.45%.

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.