Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Has $3.71 Million Stock Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position in First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) by 121.1% in Q3 to 98,523 shares worth about $3.71 million, representing roughly 0.17% of the company.
• Institutional ownership is high at 73.92% while insiders hold 1.37%; notable recent insider sales include VP Larry W. Myers (5,000 shares at $41.50) and Eva D. Scurlock (3,227 shares at $42.29).
• First Merchants topped quarterly estimates (EPS $0.98 vs. $0.96; revenue $178.36M vs. $172.89M), pays a $0.36 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.44, yield ~3.8%), and trades at a P/E of 9.84 with a $2.43B market cap.

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 121.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,523 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned approximately 0.17% of First Merchants worth $3,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at $235,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth $296,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 50.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 393,408 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,831,000 after purchasing an additional 131,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 58,016 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,187,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $38.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.23. First Merchants Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First Merchants from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.75.

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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