Oberweis Asset Management Inc. Has $5.81 Million Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Oberweis Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,600 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 18,400 shares during the period. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. owned 0.25% of First Merchants worth $5,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in First Merchants by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 58,032 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,735 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $1,453,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,445 shares of the bank's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in First Merchants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 45,323 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,501 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of FRME stock traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $35.53. The stock had a trading volume of 63,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,443. 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 twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.95.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.40.

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.