Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC significantly increased its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 1,034.4%, owning 202,055 shares valued at approximately $8.17 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• First Merchants announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share with a dividend yield of 3.5%, payable on September 19th to shareholders on record by September 5th.
• Analyst ratings for First Merchants have been mostly positive, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a revised average target price of $48.25 following some recent price adjustments.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 1,034.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 202,055 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 184,243 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.35% of First Merchants worth $8,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank's stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 11.2% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,335 shares of the bank's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $40.79. 27,601 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 281,407. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $40.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.84. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

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

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.