Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) Stock Price

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Separately, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Meridian Price Performance

Meridian stock opened at $13.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.66. Meridian has a 12 month low of $8.69 and a 12 month high of $17.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $149.86 million, a PE ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 0.68.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $27.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.93 million. Meridian had a return on equity of 10.01% and a net margin of 8.28%. Equities analysts predict that Meridian will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Meridian during the fourth quarter worth about $139,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian during the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,000. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meridian by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meridian by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meridian during the fourth quarter worth $315,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

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.