Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $28,000 Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 750 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $28,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $45,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.5 %

FRME opened at $43.17 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.77 and a 200-day moving average of $37.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

First Merchants Company 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.