Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,382 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.59% of Mercantile Bank worth $4,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 16,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,484,000 after buying an additional 14,202 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 132.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 12,239 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 21,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 83.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 14,263 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,709.60. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MBWM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $44.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $721.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.16. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 52-week low of $33.46 and a 52-week high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.90%.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

Mercantile Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan that provides commercial and retail banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and term certificate accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.