Meridian Bank $MRBK Shares Purchased by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 75.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,199 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,500 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 1.08% of Meridian Bank worth $1,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian Bank during the first quarter worth $209,000. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Meridian Bank 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 acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Meridian Bank in the first quarter valued at $276,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Meridian Bank in the first quarter valued at $310,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $15.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.99. Meridian Bank has a one year low of $11.16 and a one year high of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 0.75.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.07. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $32.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.65 million. On average, analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meridian Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.50.

Meridian Bank 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.