Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MRBK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Meridian Bank from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRBK opened at $20.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.54. Meridian Bank has a one year low of $11.16 and a one year high of $21.67. The firm has a market cap of $243.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.75.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 10.63%.The firm had revenue of $34.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.41 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from Meridian Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 125.9% during the 3rd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank during the 2nd quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 166.6% during the 2nd 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 and hedge funds.

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.