Insider Buying: Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Purchases $27,580.00 in Stock

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Robert M. Casciato bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.79 per share, with a total value of $27,580.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 215,396 shares in the company, valued at $2,970,310.84. The trade was a 0.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Meridian Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRBK traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $14.07. The company had a trading volume of 17,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,755. Meridian Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.02 and a fifty-two week high of $17.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its 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). Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $27.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.93 million. On average, research analysts expect that Meridian Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. Meridian’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,742,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Meridian by 113.9% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 79,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 42,106 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Meridian by 410.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 52,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 42,004 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its stake in shares of Meridian by 161.4% during the fourth quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 48,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meridian in the fourth quarter worth approximately $395,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Meridian from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Meridian Company Profile

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.