MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• MeridianLink shares experienced a significant increase in trading volume, up by 280%, after Barclays raised its price target from $16.00 to $20.00, despite maintaining an underweight rating.
• Analyst ratings for MeridianLink have been mixed, with reports from several firms lowering their ratings and price targets, leading to an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.07.
• The company's most recent earnings report indicated a miss on earnings per share, with a quarterly revenue increase of 7.5%, demonstrating a negative net margin of 6.90% and a negative return on equity of 4.41%.

Shares of MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $20.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Approximately 1,478,344 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 280% from the previous session's volume of 389,130 shares.The stock last traded at $19.77 and had previously closed at $19.78.

MLNK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. William Blair downgraded shares of MeridianLink from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of MeridianLink from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on MeridianLink from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of MeridianLink from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MeridianLink

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in MeridianLink by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,704 shares of the company's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MeridianLink by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,421 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MeridianLink by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,070 shares of the company's stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in MeridianLink by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,928 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in MeridianLink by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 30,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.65% of the company's stock.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of -68.30 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $16.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.45.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $84.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.58 million. MeridianLink had a negative net margin of 6.90% and a negative return on equity of 4.50%. The business's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MeridianLink, Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.