Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) saw a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,400 shares, a decrease of 25.9% from the May 15th total of 42,400 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 49,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Meridian Bank Stock Down 2.4%

MRBK opened at $11.49 on Thursday. Meridian Bank has a 12 month low of $10.04 and a 12 month high of $17.33. The company has a market cap of $129.61 million, a PE ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.38 and a 200 day moving average of $14.46.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $27.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.93 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 8.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRBK shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meridian Bank from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Casciato acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.79 per share, for a total transaction of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 215,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This represents a 0.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 3,208 shares of company stock valued at $44,416 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRBK. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Meridian Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $139,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meridian Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $186,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meridian Bank in the first quarter worth $209,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meridian Bank

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.