Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 2,838 Shares of Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 3.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,534 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,838 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meridian were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Meridian by 10.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian during the 3rd quarter valued at $128,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 171,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its position in Meridian by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,480,000 after acquiring an additional 37,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $14.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $157.58 million, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.81. Meridian Co. has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $17.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.07. Meridian had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company had revenue of $51.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.57 million. Analysts predict that Meridian Co. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRBK has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

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.