Robert M. Casciato Purchases 2,000 Shares of Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Stock

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Robert M. Casciato purchased 2,000 shares of Meridian stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.79 per share, with a total value of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 215,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This represents a 0.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Meridian Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $14.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $160.36 million, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Meridian Co. has a 1 year low of $9.10 and a 1 year high of $17.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $13.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.71.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $27.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.93 million. Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meridian Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Meridian’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Meridian by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Meridian by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Meridian by 10.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meridian by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in Meridian by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 432,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRBK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Meridian from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.