GSA Capital Partners LLP Reduces Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

GSA Capital Partners LLP lessened its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 37.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,856 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 9,001 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $20.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $13.41 and a twelve month high of $21.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.76 and a 200 day moving average of $17.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.75.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.