StockNews.com Upgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to “Hold”

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FRME. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $34.69. 132,701 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 235,939. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.77 and its 200-day moving average is $33.29. 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 has a 12-month low of $24.52 and a 12-month high of $38.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 1.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FRME. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4,586.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,982,000 after buying an additional 685,758 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $14,400,000. rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $8,572,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in First Merchants by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,001,000 after purchasing an additional 211,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 2,694.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 201,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,615,000 after buying an additional 194,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.