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

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,101 shares of the bank's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of First Merchants stock traded down $0.45 on Friday, reaching $37.19. The company had a trading volume of 44,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,322. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $37.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.58. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. As a group, research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on FRME. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.