Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 30.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 696,621 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 310,614 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $30,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on FRME shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.1%

First Merchants stock opened at $42.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.97.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%.The company had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. On average, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 47.44%.

First Merchants Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.