Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 8,130 Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,459 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,130 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of First Merchants worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,937 shares of the bank's stock worth $252,780,000 after acquiring an additional 138,689 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 820,649 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,736,000 after purchasing an additional 19,932 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 749,055 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,880,000 after purchasing an additional 66,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 745,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,736,000 after purchasing an additional 49,384 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 731,413 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,176,000 after buying an additional 9,265 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $38.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.36. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 19.63% and a return on equity of 9.28%. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler dropped 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 note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Company 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.

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