Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $52.00

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on FRME. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $44.44 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.06. First Merchants has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FRME. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,077 shares of the bank’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 83,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

About First Merchants

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.