MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE:MLNK)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.43, but opened at $19.50. MeridianLink shares last traded at $20.55, with a volume of 41,602 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on MeridianLink from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded shares of MeridianLink from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $28.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lifted their target price on MeridianLink from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on MeridianLink from $25.50 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

MeridianLink Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.00 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Nguyen sold 5,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.01, for a total transaction of $130,374.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,619,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,346,089.26. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nicolaas Vlok sold 71,598 shares of MeridianLink stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total transaction of $1,515,729.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,043,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,088,396.94. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 106,511 shares of company stock valued at $2,312,942. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MeridianLink

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in MeridianLink by 1.0% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,159,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,340,000 after acquiring an additional 12,002 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MeridianLink by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 218,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,486,000 after buying an additional 42,302 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in MeridianLink by 5.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in MeridianLink in the third quarter worth about $823,000. Finally, Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in shares of MeridianLink during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,377,000. 82.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.