Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $698,000 Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,817 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in First Merchants by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 42,584 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in First Merchants by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its position in First Merchants by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 266,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,845 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.7 %

FRME opened at $34.46 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 1-year low of $24.52 and a 1-year high of $38.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The business had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.50 million. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. StockNews.com downgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.