Raymond James & Associates Cuts Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,462 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in First Merchants were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 16.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,326 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,889 shares of the bank’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 131,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $35.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.08. 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 fifty day moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day moving average of $33.02. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $24.52 and a 52-week high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.87. The company had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. On average, research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 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.