Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,400 shares, a drop of 25.9% from the May 15th total of 42,400 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 49,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meridian Bank

In other news, Director Robert M. Casciato acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.79 per share, for a total transaction of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 215,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This trade represents a 0.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,208 shares of company stock valued at $44,416 over the last ninety days. 14.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRBK. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Meridian Bank during the fourth quarter worth $139,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meridian Bank by 265.1% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the company's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 26,835 shares during the period. Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian Bank during the fourth quarter worth $2,742,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 122.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 44,707 shares of the company's stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 14.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Meridian Bank Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.50. 60,899 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,355. Meridian Bank has a 1 year low of $10.04 and a 1 year high of $17.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.72 million, a P/E ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $27.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.93 million. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 9.52%. Equities analysts expect that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Meridian Bank's payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MRBK shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Meridian Bank from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Meridian Bank from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

About Meridian Bank

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.