13,694 Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC acquired 13,694 shares of First Merchants Corporation in the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $554,000, amid significant modifications in institutional holdings.
• Recent analyst ratings have upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" to a "hold," with a consensus price target of $48.25 and four analysts rating the stock as a Buy.
• First Merchants announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%, to be paid to stockholders on September 19th.

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 13,694 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 12,600 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 10,900.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 21,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded down $0.13 on Monday, reaching $40.88. The stock had a trading volume of 69,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,675. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $40.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About First Merchants

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.