Insider Selling: Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) CEO Sells 34,986 Shares of Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 34,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.34, for a total transaction of $1,936,125.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,028,050.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of MCB stock opened at $54.88 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.20 and a twelve month high of $57.69. The stock has a market cap of $614.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $121.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.02 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 10.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 70.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 1st quarter worth $103,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at about $361,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.50 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.