Legal & General Group Plc Invests $2.35 Million in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc initiated a $2.35 million position in First Merchants, purchasing 53,763 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 73.92% of the bank.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $51, while First Merchants has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $49 consensus target.
• First Merchants reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, below the $1.02 consensus estimate, but maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, representing a 3.5% annualized yield.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 53,763 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,349,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.09% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $27,195,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 892.3% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 84,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,255,000 after acquiring an additional 75,579 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 46.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 243,276 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,422,000 after acquiring an additional 77,155 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,273,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,939,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised First Merchants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.1%

FRME opened at $42.06 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.97.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%.The company had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.78 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. First Merchants's payout ratio is 47.44%.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company's core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.

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