First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target Raised to $42.50

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price objective lifted by Piper Sandler from $41.00 to $42.50 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.52% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $34.13 on Monday. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $24.52 and a twelve month high of $38.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.14.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.87. The company had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 20.15%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $243,673,000 after purchasing an additional 32,126 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in First Merchants by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,001,000 after buying an additional 211,113 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 992,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,618,000 after acquiring an additional 71,527 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in First Merchants by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 89,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,632,000 after acquiring an additional 11,842 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.