MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Upgraded by BTIG Research to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• BTIG Research has initiated coverage on MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $20.00, implying a potential upside of 25.23%.
• While BTIG is optimistic, other analysts such as Barclays and Stifel Nicolaus have set lower price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $19.50.
• MeridianLink reported a quarterly earnings miss with $0.09 EPS, falling short of the expected $0.11 EPS, but showed a revenue increase of 4.7% year-over-year to $81.49 million.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by BTIG Research to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research's price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.42% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on MeridianLink from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on MeridianLink from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.50.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

NYSE MLNK traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $16.08. 376,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,182. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.51 and its 200 day moving average is $17.56. MeridianLink has a 52 week low of $15.49 and a 52 week high of $25.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -42.30 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). MeridianLink had a negative return on equity of 5.14% and a negative net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $81.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MeridianLink will post -0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MeridianLink

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MeridianLink by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,343,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,962,000 after buying an additional 77,873 shares in the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MeridianLink by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 2,599,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,161,000 after purchasing an additional 227,969 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MeridianLink by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,824,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,806,000 after purchasing an additional 397,730 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 986,105 shares of the company's stock worth $20,363,000 after buying an additional 107,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in MeridianLink by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 672,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,890,000 after acquiring an additional 69,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.65% of the company's stock.

MeridianLink Company Profile

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.