OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,436 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 2,289 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 42,300 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $599,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 205,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on OCFC shares. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $15.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $910.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $19.58.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

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.