First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,649 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth $8,572,000. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 92.8% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 106,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,960,000 after purchasing an additional 51,400 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in First Merchants by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 97,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after buying an additional 21,632 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $877,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $31.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 1.07. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $25.70 and a 1 year high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $153.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.95 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 20.15%. Research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.35%.

First Merchants 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.