Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MRBK. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MRBK opened at $18.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.58 million, a P/E ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.80. Meridian Bank has a 12 month low of $11.16 and a 12 month high of $21.67.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $31.79 million. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 11.68% and a return on equity of 12.81%. As a group, analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian Bank

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 213,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 25,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 125.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

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.