MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• MeridianLink shares experienced a significant gap up from a previous close of $15.88 to an opening of $19.77, reflecting heightened trading activity with over 6 million shares exchanged.
• Analyst ratings show mixed sentiment, with Barclays downgrading the stock to "underweight" while BTIG Research upgraded it to "strong-buy," leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and target price of $19.50.
• The company reported earnings of $0.09 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, although revenue increased by 4.7% year-over-year to $81.49 million, highlighting its ongoing growth despite profitability challenges.

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.88, but opened at $19.77. MeridianLink shares last traded at $19.69, with a volume of 6,225,280 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MLNK. Barclays lowered their price objective on MeridianLink from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BTIG Research upgraded MeridianLink to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on MeridianLink from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MeridianLink in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.50.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.09 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $80.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MeridianLink, Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MeridianLink

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MeridianLink by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of MeridianLink by 1,606.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of MeridianLink by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MeridianLink in the 1st quarter worth $194,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MeridianLink in the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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