First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of First Merchants crossed above its 200-day moving average (200‑day MA $38.42), trading as high as $40.72 and last at $40.44 on the session.
• Analysts are generally positive — Weiss Ratings upgraded to a Buy, Piper Sandler raised its price target to $49 (overweight), and the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $48.33.
• Fundamentals are mixed: Q1 EPS beat at $1.03 versus $0.96 expected while revenue missed ($163.5M vs. $201.9M), the stock yields about 3.6% annually, insiders have recently sold shares, and institutional ownership is ~73.9%.

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $38.42 and traded as high as $40.72. First Merchants shares last traded at $40.44, with a volume of 381,806 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.33.

First Merchants Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.88.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 18.87%.The company had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.35%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $848,464.27. This trade represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank's stock worth $568,417,000 after acquiring an additional 15,165,815 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,815,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 64.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,756,000 after acquiring an additional 527,545 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,663,000 after acquiring an additional 104,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 956,197 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,838,000 after acquiring an additional 8,699 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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