Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC reduced its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 39.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,776 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,739 shares during the period. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,400,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in First Merchants by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 99,600.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 242,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $36.67 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. First Merchants Co. has a 1-year low of $25.70 and a 1-year high of $42.44.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 40.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.20.

First Merchants 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.