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

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,402,243 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 19,130 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $25,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 94,007 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 140,665 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,546,000 after buying an additional 30,373 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,257 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $539,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $21,879,000 after acquiring an additional 121,923 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on OCFC. Hovde Group lowered their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

OCFC opened at $15.75 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $937.90 million, a PE ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.89 and its 200-day moving average is $18.17.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. On average, equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

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.