Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,826 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 2.1 %

First Merchants stock opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $24.52 and a one year high of $38.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.76 and a 200 day moving average of $33.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

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.