Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stock Holdings in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P sold 4,307 shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., lowering its stake by 19.5%, and now holds approximately 17,830 shares valued at $998,000.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Metropolitan Bank, with Hovde Group setting a new target of $79.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing theirs to $95.00, both assigning an "outperform" rating.
• The company recently announced a $50 million stock buyback program and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, indicating confidence in its valuation and financial stability.

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,830 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,307 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.17% of Metropolitan Bank worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter worth $84,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter worth about $352,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 20,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total value of $1,342,427.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 94,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,162,524.55. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total value of $393,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,631,516.56. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,077 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,205. 6.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MCB shares. Hovde Group raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.67.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Metropolitan Bank stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.49. The company had a trading volume of 57,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,817. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $47.08 and a 1-year high of $80.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $73.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $828.32 million, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.13.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, July 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is currently 9.72%.

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.