StockNews.com began to cover the shares of Middlefield Bank (NASDAQ: MBCN – Get a rating) in a research report released Wednesday. The brokerage has placed a “buy” rating on the bank’s shares.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Middlefield Banc from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a price target of $29.00 on the stock in a Tuesday, February 1, report.

MBCN Stock opened at $25.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt ratio of 0.09. Middlefield Banc has a 12-month low of $20.33 and a 12-month high of $27.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.75 million, a price-earnings ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company‘s fifty-day simple moving average is $25.47 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $24.97.

Middlefield Bank (NASDAQ: MBCN – Get a rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 25. The bank reported earnings per share of $0.81 for the quarter, beating the Zacks consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. Middlefield Banc posted a net margin of 31.29% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company posted revenue of $13.53 million for the quarter, compared to $14.00 million expected by analysts. As a group, equity research analysts expect Middlefield Banc to post EPS of 2.42 for the current year.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently been buying and selling shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Middlefield Banc in the second quarter worth approximately $2,257,000. Alliancebernstein LP increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 146.5% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein LP now owns 96,552 shares of the bank worth $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 57,387 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 7.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 88,012 shares of the bank worth $2,077,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,377 shares of the bank worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Middlefield Banc by 21.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,977 shares in the bank worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 30.23% of the company’s shares.

About Middlefield Bench (Get a rating)

Middlefield Banc Corp. is a holding company that provides personal and commercial banking solutions. It offers checking accounts, savings accounts, negotiable withdrawal orders, money market accounts, term deposit certificates, business loans, home loans, a variety of consumer loans, safe deposit boxes and traveler’s check services.

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