Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $16.66 Million Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 447,785 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,893 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $16,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth $45,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 511.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in First Merchants during the second quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $43.96 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.18 and a 200-day moving average of $36.73. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.01. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.25 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 46.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.60.

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.