Piper Sandler Cuts First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $49.00

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the bank's stock. Piper Sandler's target price would suggest a potential upside of 36.41% from the company's previous close.

FRME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James cut their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 227,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,944. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.59 and a 200-day moving average of $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.95. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The company 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%. Research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,101 shares of the bank's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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.