UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $3.83 Million Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,823 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,308 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FRME. First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,370,000 after buying an additional 477,462 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,218,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,778,000 after purchasing an additional 204,736 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,682,000 after purchasing an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day moving average is $37.36.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS 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 company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

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.