Larry Myers Sells 10,000 Shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Director Larry Myers sold 10,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME stock opened at $41.25 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.85. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.53%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $645,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 243,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,422,000 after purchasing an additional 77,155 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $865,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,839 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after purchasing an additional 16,873 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 29,669 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Weiss Ratings lowered First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.33.

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.