Peregrine Capital Management LLC Buys 21,331 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,449 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,331 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned about 0.26% of First Merchants worth $6,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 78.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $44.55 on Wednesday. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.73.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Profile

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.