First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) PT Raised to $45.00 at Stephens

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Stephens from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on FRME. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.17. The stock had a trading volume of 154,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,453. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $42.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.86 and its 200 day moving average is $34.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $153.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.95 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 10.21%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,539,413 shares of the bank’s stock worth $181,926,000 after buying an additional 84,858 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 92.8% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 106,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,960,000 after purchasing an additional 51,400 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.