Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 100,033 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,111 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Metropolitan Bank were worth $5,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Metropolitan Bank by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 53,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,131,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,109,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 138.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 5,268 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 1,726.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 149,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,718,000 after buying an additional 141,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter worth $960,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCB shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $83.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In related news, Director Dale C. Fredston sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,100,186.36. This represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 49,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,729,344.80. This represents a 9.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $52.27 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.98. The company has a market cap of $586.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.95. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $32.46 and a 1-year high of $69.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank 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.