OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 27,579 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.43% of OceanFirst Financial worth $26,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $20,130,000 after acquiring an additional 925,283 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,828,000 after buying an additional 158,590 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after acquiring an additional 223,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price 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, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

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

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $18.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.79. 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 Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date 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.