MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE:MLNK) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $20.83, but opened at $19.73. MeridianLink shares last traded at $19.55, with a volume of 56,760 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MLNK shares. UBS Group upgraded MeridianLink from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $22.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on MeridianLink from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of MeridianLink from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MeridianLink currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.08.

MeridianLink Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.15 and its 200 day moving average is $21.96.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.17). MeridianLink had a negative net margin of 16.57% and a negative return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MeridianLink, Inc. will post -0.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nicolaas Vlok sold 29,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.80, for a total transaction of $666,147.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,043,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,789,109.60. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy Nguyen sold 1,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $39,208.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,728,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $247,285,793.70. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,488 shares of company stock valued at $6,525,738 over the last ninety days. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MeridianLink

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in MeridianLink by 12.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 603,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,415,000 after purchasing an additional 65,834 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of MeridianLink by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 32,808 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 218,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,486,000 after buying an additional 42,302 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MeridianLink in the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Maven Securities LTD bought a new position in MeridianLink in the third quarter valued at about $5,377,000. 82.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink, Inc, a software and services company, provides software solutions for banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, specialty lending providers, and consumer reporting agencies in the United States. The company offers MeridianLink One, a multi-product platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of customers as they digitally transform their organizations and adapt to changing business and consumer demands; MeridianLink Portal, a Point of Sale system that allows financial institutions to expand existing lending and deposit account; MeridianLink Opening, a cloud-based online account opening and deposit software solution; MeridianLink Consumer, a full loan solution suite to banks and credit unions; and MeridianLink DecisionLender, a loan origination software (LOS) for finance companies.