Banc Funds Co. LLC Sells 73,000 Shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PGC)

Banc Funds Co. LLC reduced its stake in Peapack-Gladstone Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PGC) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 602,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,000 shares during the quarter. Peapack-Gladstone Financial comprises approximately 1.8% of Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned 3.43% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial worth $16,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 903,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,972,000 after purchasing an additional 9,991 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 15.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 275,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,242,000 after buying an additional 36,564 shares during the last quarter. Salzhauer Michael increased its position in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 5.1% during the second quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 152,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 7,429 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 95,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 30,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Peapack-Gladstone Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised Peapack-Gladstone Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peapack-Gladstone Financial

In related news, EVP John P. Babcock sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.29, for a total transaction of $96,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,587,214.95. The trade was a 5.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PGC opened at $36.14 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.20. Peapack-Gladstone Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $20.30 and a 52-week high of $37.88. The company has a market cap of $635.52 million, a PE ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $102.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.24 million. Peapack-Gladstone Financial had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 5.55%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Peapack-Gladstone Financial Co. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Peapack-Gladstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.05%.

About Peapack-Gladstone Financial

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Peapack-Gladstone Bank that provides private banking and wealth management services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Peapack Private. It offers checking and savings accounts, money market and interest-bearing checking accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.