ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 7,210 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,004 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,210 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.33% of First Merchants worth $7,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Down 3.6%

FRME traded down $1.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.75. 241,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 265,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $37.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.58. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.02.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is 39.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.