OLD National Bancorp IN Buys 1,380 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,584 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 16.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 12.2% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,326 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 6.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 131,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $33.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.72 and a 200 day moving average of $32.96. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $24.52 and a 12 month high of $38.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. The company had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.50 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. On average, research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 36.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price target on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

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.