Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Down 0.4%

MRBK stock opened at $18.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $222.06 million, a PE ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.99. Meridian Bank has a fifty-two week low of $11.16 and a fifty-two week high of $21.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $34.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.41 million. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 11.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRBK. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meridian Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 114.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 83,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 44,332 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 178.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 41,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 110.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 212,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,745,000 after acquiring an additional 111,939 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: MRBK), the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.