Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,309 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,176 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.30% of Middlefield Banc worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 69.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,916 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 6,918 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Middlefield Banc by 127.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,180 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 6,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,516 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,952,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Middlefield Banc by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MBCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Middlefield Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Middlefield Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Middlefield Banc Price Performance

Middlefield Banc stock opened at $27.68 on Thursday. Middlefield Banc Corp. has a 1 year low of $20.61 and a 1 year high of $34.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.96. The company has a market cap of $223.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Middlefield Banc had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 7.47%. Sell-side analysts predict that Middlefield Banc Corp. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlefield Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Middlefield Banc’s payout ratio is currently 43.75%.

About Middlefield Banc

Middlefield Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Middlefield Banking Company that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, small business owners, and retail customers in northeastern and central Ohio. It offers checking, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, time certificates of deposit, commercial loans, real estate loans, various consumer loans, safe deposit facilities, and travelers' checks.