BlackRock Inc. Buys New Position in Meridian Corp $MRBK

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Corp (NASDAQ:MRBK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 690,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,832,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 5.45% of Meridian as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meridian in the first quarter valued at about $345,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian during the first quarter worth approximately $416,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meridian by 333.2% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 34,523 shares of the company's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 26,554 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Meridian by 9.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 434,002 shares of the company's stock worth $8,229,000 after buying an additional 38,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Meridian Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MRBK traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.74. 116,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 107,493. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meridian Corp has a fifty-two week low of $13.81 and a fifty-two week high of $21.67. The firm has a market cap of $235.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.64.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $32.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.31 million. Meridian had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 12.29%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meridian Corp will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Meridian's dividend payout ratio is 27.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRBK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Meridian from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. DA Davidson set a $23.00 target price on Meridian in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.00.

Meridian Profile

Meridian Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Meridian Bank, the company provides commercial and community banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Meridian Bank offers business lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, equipment financing, residential and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services and online banking. The company also provides mortgage banking and wealth management services, including investment and financial planning solutions.

Meridian was established in 2004 and serves customers through a network of banking offices in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and surrounding markets.