Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Shares Bought by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 6,344.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,636 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,502 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Metropolitan Bank worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 298,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,893,000 after acquiring an additional 25,864 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 7.4% in the second quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 150,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,535,000 after purchasing an additional 10,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 107.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,378,000 after purchasing an additional 76,745 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 138,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,725,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,074,000 after purchasing an additional 59,865 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In related news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total transaction of $410,184.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,667.20. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB stock opened at $95.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $982.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.08 and a 52-week high of $97.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.48.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 13.49%.The firm had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Equities research analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 27th. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Metropolitan Bank Profile

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.