OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 117,033 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 13,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $2,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 11.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,394,141 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $19,660,000 after purchasing an additional 139,646 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $946,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $1,015,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,701,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,344 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 43,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OCFC. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC opened at $15.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $880.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $12.01 and a 1-year high of $19.58.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $98.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.45 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 15.54%. Research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $54,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,868 shares in the company, valued at $648,535.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.