JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 73,491 Shares of Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 179,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $5,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MBIN. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $256,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 39.4% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 49,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 14,043 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 29,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 82.5% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 42,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 19,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,609,000 after purchasing an additional 210,151 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $44.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.37. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $48.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $185.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.80 million. Research analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total transaction of $253,330.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,178.86. This represents a 33.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MBIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ: MBIN) is the bank holding company for Merchants Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company offers a range of banking services across western and central New York. Merchants Bancorp operates as a full?service commercial bank, serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, families and individuals in its core markets.

The company’s primary activities include deposit taking, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management services.