UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,573 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 21,750 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.21% of First Merchants worth $4,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Barclays PLC raised its position in First Merchants by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,969 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,866,000 after acquiring an additional 9,679 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 12,600 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on 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 decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $36.95. 258,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,749. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.15. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month 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, 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, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

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.