Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Director Sells $451,050.00 in Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Robert Patent sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $451,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,676,848.85. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MCB traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.69. 63,706 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 162,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.01. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $97.84.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.73. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 15.89%.The firm had revenue of $88.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.33 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is currently 12.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,229,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,266,000 after buying an additional 236,946 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,722,000 after buying an additional 299,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 7.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 459,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,295,000 after buying an additional 32,662 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,486,000 after acquiring an additional 20,750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCB. Wall Street Zen upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Metropolitan Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB), through its principal subsidiary Metropolitan Commercial Bank, operates as a New York–based regional financial institution providing a range of commercial and consumer banking services. The company offers deposit products including checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as business and personal certificates of deposit. On the lending side, Metropolitan Bank extends commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, working capital lines of credit and consumer installment loans tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual customers.

In addition to traditional deposit and lending services, Metropolitan Bank provides specialized treasury and cash-management solutions, foreign exchange services and letters of credit for both domestic businesses and multinational clients.