22,764 Shares in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Bought by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has made a new investment in First Merchants Corporation by purchasing 22,764 shares worth approximately $921,000.
• First Merchants recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.9% as compared to the previous $0.35.
• Following recent earnings, which saw EPS of $0.98, various research firms have adjusted their target prices for First Merchants, with a consensus target price now set at $46.20.

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 22,764 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,262 shares of the bank's stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 745,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,736,000 after acquiring an additional 49,384 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,251,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 68,157 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,660,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.25.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $37.57. 88,819 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,731. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.34. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.08. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

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.