American Century Companies Inc. Has $24.32 Million Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,991 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,522 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 3.16% of Metropolitan Bank worth $24,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 107.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,378,000 after purchasing an additional 76,745 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 178,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,345,000 after purchasing an additional 62,327 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,074,000 after purchasing an additional 59,865 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 854.7% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after buying an additional 37,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter valued at about $2,198,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 2.7%

MCB stock opened at $79.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a twelve month low of $47.08 and a twelve month high of $97.84. The company has a market cap of $804.24 million, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.91 and a 200-day moving average of $79.34.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%.The business had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.15 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 88,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,424,188.15. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Profile

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB), through its principal subsidiary Metropolitan Commercial Bank, operates as a New York–based regional financial institution providing a range of commercial and consumer banking services. The company offers deposit products including checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as business and personal certificates of deposit. On the lending side, Metropolitan Bank extends commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, working capital lines of credit and consumer installment loans tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual customers.

In addition to traditional deposit and lending services, Metropolitan Bank provides specialized treasury and cash-management solutions, foreign exchange services and letters of credit for both domestic businesses and multinational clients.