Larry Myers Sells 5,000 Shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) VP Larry Myers sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $44.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 21.49%.The business had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in First Merchants by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 95,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,561,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $310,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,725,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 101,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.75.

About First Merchants

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.