New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $4.18 Million Stock Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,763 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.18% of First Merchants worth $4,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,120,000 after buying an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,864,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after buying an additional 93,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 93.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,778,000 after purchasing an additional 204,736 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 research analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.80 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued 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 yield of 3.20%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.