First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 806,638 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 79,450 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.37% of First Merchants worth $32,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 54,265 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 123.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,854,000 after buying an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.42 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $41.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.07. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its 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 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.