OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,923 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.07% of OceanFirst Financial worth $21,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,074,000 after acquiring an additional 157,711 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 299,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,566,000 after purchasing an additional 34,458 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,519 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 6,496 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $17.06 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. 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 52 week low of $14.03 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $998.98 million, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. Equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on OCFC shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.