Jane Street Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Jane Street Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 87.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,355 shares of the bank's stock after selling 73,341 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in First Merchants were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 809.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in First Merchants by 270.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.82. The company had a trading volume of 232,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,283. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. The company had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

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.