OneAscent Financial Services LLC Has $4.92 Million Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,286 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC owned 0.21% of First Merchants worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in First Merchants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated 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. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.