Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 73,725 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,725 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.64% of First Merchants worth $35,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 361.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth $50,000. GGM Financials LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,464.27. This trade represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Merchants Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of FRME opened at $37.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.60. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $43.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 21.49%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.8%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

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.