Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Kenneth Thomas Warriner Purchases 1,000 Shares

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Kenneth Thomas Warriner acquired 1,000 shares of Meridian Bank stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.41 per share, for a total transaction of $18,410.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,820. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Meridian Bank Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of MRBK opened at $18.82 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.80. The stock has a market cap of $223.58 million, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.75. Meridian Bank has a 12 month low of $11.16 and a 12 month high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.09). Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 11.68%.The business had revenue of $30.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.79 million. Equities analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 27.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRBK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Meridian Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meridian Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRBK. CWM LLC bought a new stake in Meridian Bank during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 4,302 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Meridian Bank in the second quarter worth about $64,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Meridian Bank by 125.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Meridian Bank by 166.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meridian Bank

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.