Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC Buys New Holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,602 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in First Merchants by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.66. 247,454 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 247,610. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.87 and a 200 day moving average of $35.28. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.70 and a fifty-two week high of $42.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. On average, analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens downgraded First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

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.