Invesco Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 7.2%, selling 10,538 shares and currently owning approximately 0.23% of the company valued at $5.5 million as of the latest filing.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in First Merchants, with significant hikes including a 10,900.5% increase by GAMMA Investing LLC during the first quarter.
• First Merchants recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36, reflecting a yield of 3.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 37.31% as of their latest financials.

Invesco Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,455 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,538 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.23% of First Merchants worth $5,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank's stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $921,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,101,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in First Merchants by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,005 shares of the bank's stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of FRME stock traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $41.24. 184,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,348. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The company had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on 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, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.25.

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.