First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Newly Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 206,018 First Merchants shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $9.0 million and representing about 0.33% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 73.92% of FRME.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: FRME has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.50, above its reported opening price of $40.71.
• First Merchants reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, below the $1.02 consensus estimate, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 206,018 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $9,001,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.33% of First Merchants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter worth $931,000. Odyssean LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 125.6% during the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 30,458 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 16,957 shares during the period. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $229,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,193,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised First Merchants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Stephens raised First Merchants to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.50.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.71 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. On average, analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants's payout ratio is 47.44%.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana, and the parent company of First Merchants Bank. The bank provides a broad range of financial products and services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Its offerings include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, business banking, treasury management, mortgage services, investment and wealth management, and trust services. First Merchants also provides specialized financing and advisory solutions for commercial customers and other organizations.

First Merchants serves customers through banking offices and digital channels across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

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