Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 66,868 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,046,061 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 66,868 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.77% of OceanFirst Financial worth $18,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $1,302,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 76,973 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 16,323 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 83,650 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 45,980 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $830,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,535.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $15.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $15.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.79. The firm has a market cap of $892.98 million, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $12.01 and a 52 week high of $19.58.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $98.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.45 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 15.54%. Equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

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.