LPL Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)

LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 16,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,174,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 245,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,343,000 after acquiring an additional 30,547 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 44.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 82,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 25,654 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,405,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 54.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 8,233 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group upped their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $83.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MCB opened at $54.43 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.04. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $37.10 and a 12 month high of $69.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $610.92 million, a P/E ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.95.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.39. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.55%. As a group, analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, Director Dale C. Fredston sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.27, for a total value of $62,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,100,186.36. This trade represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.60, for a total value of $273,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,729,344.80. This represents a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,088 shares of company stock valued at $1,161,791 in the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.