Insider Selling: Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Director Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total transaction of $268,740.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,634,207.94. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCB traded down $1.22 on Monday, hitting $88.30. 134,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,407. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $63.06 and a 1-year high of $97.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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