KBC Group NV Buys 665 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 12.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.3 %

FRME opened at $44.67 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.39 and its 200 day moving average is $39.51.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.