Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) Stock: Insider Kenneth Thomas Warriner Acquires 1,000 Shares

Meridian Corp (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Kenneth Warriner purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.18 per share, for a total transaction of $16,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $65,529. This represents a 32.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Meridian Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRBK traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.22. The company had a trading volume of 82,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,638. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. Meridian Corp has a 1-year low of $13.92 and a 1-year high of $21.67. The company has a market cap of $193.70 million, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.57 and a 200-day moving average of $19.16.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). Meridian had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $30.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meridian Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRBK. Weiss Ratings lowered Meridian from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of Meridian in a report on Thursday, November 5th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Meridian from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meridian from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meridian has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRBK. Fourthstone LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meridian by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 852,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,048,000 after acquiring an additional 314,331 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian in the third quarter valued at about $289,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Meridian during the third quarter worth about $938,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Meridian by 15.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 60,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 8,132 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian by 103.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 64,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 32,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Meridian Bank, the company provides commercial and community banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic region. Meridian Bank offers business lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, equipment financing, residential and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services and online banking. The company also provides mortgage banking and wealth management services, including investment and financial planning solutions.