Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 2,933 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,388 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,933 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Merchants by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,682,000 after purchasing an additional 180,323 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 2.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,677 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,120,000 after acquiring an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,864,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.6 %

First Merchants stock opened at $38.59 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.97 and its 200 day moving average is $38.72.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.