First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,772 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 4,888 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in First Merchants were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% in the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $43.37 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.36.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 46.20%.

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.