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

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Director Kenneth Thomas Warriner bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.00 per share, with a total value of $18,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,000. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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 shares were bought at an average cost of $18.41 per share, for a total transaction of $18,410.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $19.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $237.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.67. Meridian Bank has a one year low of $12.20 and a one year high of $21.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). Meridian Bank had a net margin of 11.68% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The firm had revenue of $30.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.79 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is 27.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian Bank

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRBK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 434,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 38,719 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meridian Bank during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $345,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Meridian Bank during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $416,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in Meridian Bank during the 4th quarter worth $234,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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