UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Reduces Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,347 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 10,769 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.19% of OceanFirst Financial worth $2,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OCFC. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,905 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 25,100 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $192,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 63,539 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 14,199 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.42.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $19.40 on Monday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $21.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.