81,942 Shares in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 81,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,646,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.51% of Mercantile Bank at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 21,411 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 16,423 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,484,000 after acquiring an additional 14,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $46.76 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.46 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $47.02 and a 200-day moving average of $45.36.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,951.10. This represents a 13.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. 3.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

About Mercantile Bank

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.