OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Director Sells $2,201,182.20 in Stock

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Director John Buran sold 113,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.08. The stock had a trading volume of 792,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 838,231. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $16.35 and a 52 week high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.01 and its 200 day moving average is $18.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.94%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $103,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on OCFC shares. Weiss Ratings raised OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.50.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.