Insider Buying: Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Purchases $18,000.00 in Stock

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Kenneth Thomas Warriner purchased 1,000 shares of Meridian Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.00 per share, with a total value of $18,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,000. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Kenneth Thomas Warriner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 30th, Kenneth Thomas Warriner purchased 1,000 shares of Meridian Bank stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.41 per share, for a total transaction of $18,410.00.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ MRBK traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.05. The stock had a trading volume of 115,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,938. Meridian Bank has a 52-week low of $11.87 and a 52-week high of $21.67. The company has a market cap of $238.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $30.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.79 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 11.68%. Equities analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is currently 27.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRBK. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,996,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 333.2% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 34,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 26,554 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 121.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,230 shares during the period. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the third quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Meridian Bank in the second quarter valued at $106,000. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Meridian Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 target price on Meridian Bank and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Meridian Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

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.