Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,459 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 829 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned 0.07% of First Merchants worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FRME. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $235,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 431.0% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 52,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 42,870 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 8.7% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 174,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,679,000 after purchasing an additional 14,005 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in First Merchants by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 30.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.60.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $35.76 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.35. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The firm had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

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.