First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Given New $52.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 15.52% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $2.30 on Friday, hitting $45.01. The company had a trading volume of 149,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,560. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.28.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 222,066 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,858,000 after acquiring an additional 10,934 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 44,139 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.