Scott Lublin Sells 5,000 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total transaction of $393,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,631,516.56. This trade represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Scott Lublin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 20th, Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total transaction of $325,150.00.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 1.9%

Metropolitan Bank stock traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.83. The company had a trading volume of 78,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,296. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $40.21 and a 12-month high of $80.20. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $69.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $776.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $76.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 17th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter valued at approximately $84,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MCB shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

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.