Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,205 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,943 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 2.16% of Middlefield Banc worth $4,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 104.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Middlefield Banc by 127.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,180 shares of the bank’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 6,832 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Middlefield Banc by 4.4% during the 4th 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. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 69.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 6,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,516 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,952,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 31.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MBCN. StockNews.com cut Middlefield Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of Middlefield Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Middlefield Banc Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MBCN opened at $23.84 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.65 million, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.41. Middlefield Banc Corp. has a 52-week low of $20.61 and a 52-week high of $34.00.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Middlefield Banc had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 7.47%. Analysts forecast that Middlefield Banc Corp. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Middlefield Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Middlefield Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.75%.

Middlefield Banc Company Profile

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.