Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) Shares Purchased by Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. increased its position in Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) by 1,250.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,462 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 18,021 shares during the quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Middlefield Banc worth $546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Middlefield Banc by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Middlefield Banc by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 38,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Middlefield Banc by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 25,831 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 13,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Middlefield Banc by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,265 shares of the bank’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.72% of the company’s stock.

Middlefield Banc Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MBCN opened at $25.55 on Friday. Middlefield Banc Corp. has a 52-week low of $20.61 and a 52-week high of $34.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.47 million, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.96.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Middlefield Banc Corp. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlefield Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Middlefield Banc’s payout ratio is presently 43.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of Middlefield Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Middlefield Banc 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.