Sei Investments Co. Reduces Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Sei Investments Co. reduced its position in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME – Free Report) by 29.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 203,450 shares of the bank after selling 86,385 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.35% of First Merchants worth $7,100,000, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company recently. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in First Merchants by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in First Merchants by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 73.92% of the shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider activity

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the sale, the Director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, available at this link. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Early traders trade up 0.5%

Shares of First Merchants opened at $38.72 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $25.70 and a 52-week high of $40.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price/earnings ratio of 11.16 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 – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 20.15%. The company had revenue of $153.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.95 million. As a group, research analysts expect First Merchants Co. to post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants increases dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date for this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from First Merchants’ previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.40 and a dividend yield of 3.62%. First Merchants’ dividend payout ratio is currently 40.35%.

Analysts set new price targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FRME. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Check out our latest research report on First Merchants

First Merchants Profile

(Free Report)

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank, which provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agricultural, public finance and real estate mortgages.

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Want to know which other hedge funds own FRME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com for the latest 13F filings and insider transactions for First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME – Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for First-Time Traders (NASDAQ:FRME)

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