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

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE:MLNK) shares gapped down before the market opened 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded MeridianLink from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $22.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America cut shares of MeridianLink from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of MeridianLink from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MeridianLink presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.08.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.28 and its 200-day moving average is $21.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of -29.63 and a beta of 1.02.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $80.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.54 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that MeridianLink, Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Nguyen sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $2,350,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,928,412 shares in the company, valued at $256,817,682. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nicolaas Vlok sold 29,217 shares of MeridianLink stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.80, for a total value of $666,147.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,043,382 shares in the company, valued at $23,789,109.60. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,488 shares of company stock worth $6,525,738. 21.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MeridianLink

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLNK. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MeridianLink in the 3rd quarter worth about $231,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of MeridianLink during the 2nd quarter worth $336,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of MeridianLink by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MeridianLink by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in MeridianLink by 5.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.65% of the company’s stock.

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.