Vest Financial LLC Invests $923,000 in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 22,816 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,969 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,866,000 after buying an additional 9,679 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,133,000 after purchasing an additional 332,168 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 12,600 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in First Merchants by 18.8% during 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. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $470,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.03. 144,222 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 264,022. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.80 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $36.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 1.03.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. Sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is a positive change from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.40.

First Merchants 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.