Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 16,531 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,296 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 16,531 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.08% of First Merchants worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,969 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,866,000 after purchasing an additional 9,679 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 12,600 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in First Merchants by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in First Merchants by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 104,763 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.9%

FRME stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $37.89. The stock had a trading volume of 156,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,975. 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 cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.43. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.36 dividend. 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. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James reduced 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

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.