MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Key Points

• MeridianLink reported a quarterly earnings per share of (0.04), missing the consensus estimate of (0.09) by (0.13), while revenues increased by 7.5% year-over-year.
• The stock opened at $15.91, with analyst ratings showing a consensus of "Hold" and a price target of $19.50.
• Hedge fund activity saw significant increases in ownership, with Goldman Sachs raising its stake by 72.2% during the first quarter.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.13), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $84.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.58 million. MeridianLink had a negative return on equity of 4.50% and a negative net margin of 6.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MLNK traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.80. 1,094,963 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,160. MeridianLink has a 52 week low of $15.49 and a 52 week high of $25.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.26 and a beta of 0.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MLNK shares. BTIG Research downgraded MeridianLink from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. William Blair downgraded shares of MeridianLink from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of MeridianLink from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MeridianLink from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of MeridianLink from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.07.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in MeridianLink by 5.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,928 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 34,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 3,341 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 65,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 4,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of MeridianLink by 76.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.