BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 28,198 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,384 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 28,198 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.12% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at about $62,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 437.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth about $172,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.94. 213,151 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 296,899. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $21.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.50.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.42.

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.