First Trust Advisors LP Sells 24,790 Shares of Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Free Report) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,355 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,790 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Merchants Bancorp worth $4,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,609,000 after acquiring an additional 210,151 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 1,509.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 175,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,589,000 after purchasing an additional 164,834 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $6,120,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 6.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,758,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,476,000 after purchasing an additional 102,087 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 162,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 80,136 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MBIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley restated a "positive" rating and set a $49.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Merchants Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Merchants Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merchants Bancorp

In related news, Director Julia L. Kaercher sold 9,000 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $496,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 727,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,136,085.60. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 44.90% of the company's stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MBIN opened at $55.72 on Tuesday. Merchants Bancorp has a 12 month low of $29.20 and a 12 month high of $56.87. The firm's 50 day moving average is $49.06 and its 200-day moving average is $45.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $182.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $179.00 million. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 19.80%. Equities research analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Merchants Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.84%.

Merchants Bancorp Profile

Merchants Bancorp NASDAQ: MBIN is the bank holding company for Merchants Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company offers a range of banking services across western and central New York. Merchants Bancorp operates as a full‐service commercial bank, serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, families and individuals in its core markets.

The company's primary activities include deposit taking, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management services.

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