Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,185 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,185 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Mercantile Bank worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 44,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 70,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercantile Bank

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,750 shares of company stock worth $382,695. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 1.4 %

MBWM opened at $39.45 on Monday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.46 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $640.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.57 and its 200 day moving average is $46.12.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.90%.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

Mercantile Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan that provides commercial and retail banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and term certificate accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.