Morgan Stanley Lowers Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Price Target to $45.00

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) had its price target decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 24.00% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Merchants Bancorp from $52.50 to $56.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

Merchants Bancorp stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.29. 17,689 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,912. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.16. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.16 and a fifty-two week high of $53.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 22.86%. On average, research analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott A. Evans sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total transaction of $1,077,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,818.60. This represents a 47.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 39.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBIN. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Matrix Trust Co grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 730.8% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.