Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 147,600 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 546,322 shares of the bank's stock after selling 147,600 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.93% of First Merchants worth $21,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in First Merchants by 270.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 665 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FRME. Raymond James lowered their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Stock Up 3.1 %

FRME traded up $1.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.03. The company had a trading volume of 195,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,411. The business's fifty day moving average price is $38.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $160.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's payout ratio is 39.33%.

About First Merchants

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.