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OneAscent Financial Services LLC Grows Holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

First Merchants logo with Finance background

OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 100.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 247,024 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 123,738 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC owned approximately 0.42% of First Merchants worth $9,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Get Our Latest Analysis on FRME

First Merchants Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of FRME traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $40.75. 102,804 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,055. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.38. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 19.63% and a return on equity of 9.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

First Merchants Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME)

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