Northern Trust Corp Grows Holdings in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,452 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.16% of Meridian worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truffle Hound Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Meridian in the fourth quarter worth $2,742,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Meridian by 122.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 44,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meridian by 265.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 26,835 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meridian by 161.4% in the fourth quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 48,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meridian in the fourth quarter valued at about $139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meridian

In related news, Director Robert M. Casciato bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.79 per share, for a total transaction of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 215,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This trade represents a 0.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 3,208 shares of company stock worth $44,416 over the last quarter. Insiders own 14.38% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Stock Performance

MRBK stock opened at $13.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.70. The company has a market capitalization of $152.69 million, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.71. Meridian Co. has a 1-year low of $10.04 and a 1-year high of $17.33.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.12). Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $27.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.93 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meridian Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRBK. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Meridian from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Meridian Company Profile

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.