Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Shares Purchased by Citadel Advisors LLC

Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,347 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of Meridian worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 2,609 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Meridian by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 78,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meridian in the 4th quarter worth approximately $139,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Meridian by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 210,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 12,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian in the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Meridian from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Casciato bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.79 per share, with a total value of $27,580.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 215,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This represents a 0.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,208 shares of company stock worth $44,416. Corporate insiders own 14.38% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ MRBK opened at $13.10 on Friday. Meridian Co. has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month high of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $147.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.65.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.01% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $27.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.93 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Meridian Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Meridian’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Meridian 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.