First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FRME. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $34.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.75 and a 200-day moving average of $33.24. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $24.52 and a 12-month high of $38.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FRME. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 4,586.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,982,000 after purchasing an additional 685,758 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $14,400,000. rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $8,572,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Merchants by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,001,000 after acquiring an additional 211,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 2,694.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 201,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after acquiring an additional 194,595 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.