Piper Sandler Increases First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $50.00

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.92% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FRME. Stephens boosted their target price on First Merchants from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

First Merchants Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.35 on Monday. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $25.70 and a 1-year high of $42.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.97 and a 200-day moving average of $34.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.04.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.