Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 16,434 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,808 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,434 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of Metropolitan Bank worth $5,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 128.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 8,271 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,664,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 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. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter worth approximately $244,000. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 8.5% in the second quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 26,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.36, for a total transaction of $371,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,062,070.44. This represents a 10.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dale C. Fredston sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.65, for a total transaction of $235,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,313.20. This represents a 17.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,167 shares of company stock worth $83,010 and have sold 9,875 shares worth $752,381. 6.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 0.6%

MCB opened at $74.61 on Monday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a twelve month low of $47.08 and a twelve month high of $81.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.94. The stock has a market cap of $768.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.14. 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 (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($1.28). Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company had revenue of $79.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.28 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 30th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

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.