Sanctuary Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,327 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,199 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of First Merchants worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 1.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 123.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $607,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 6.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after buying an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $43.05 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

First Merchants Company 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.