Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MRBK. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meridian Bank from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

MRBK stock opened at $20.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.55. The stock has a market cap of $243.32 million, a PE ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Meridian Bank has a 1 year low of $11.16 and a 1 year high of $21.67.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $34.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.41 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian Bank

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,121,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,721,000 after acquiring an additional 49,561 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 437,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after acquiring an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 395,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,949,000 after acquiring an additional 33,357 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 213,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 99.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 171,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 85,562 shares during the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: MRBK), the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.