Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Stake Cut by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 319,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,309 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 2.33% of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp worth $7,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 79.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,864 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 40.0% during the second quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,765 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 11.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 118,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,744,000 after acquiring an additional 12,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 239.4% in the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 144,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 248,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

FMAO opened at $26.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.29 and a 200-day moving average of $23.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.90 and a 52-week high of $28.75. The company has a market cap of $356.83 million, a PE ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.63.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 12.59%. The firm had revenue of $44.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.39 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.221 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This is a positive change from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.35%.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The Farmers & Merchants State Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and small businesses in Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and custodial services for individual retirement and health savings accounts.