JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 157,711 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 157,711 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.12% of OceanFirst Financial worth $23,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $20,130,000 after acquiring an additional 925,283 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,203 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $15,196,000 after buying an additional 164,626 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $12,828,000 after buying an additional 158,590 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $17,049,000 after buying an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on OCFC shares. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $18.03. 280,820 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,924. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.02. 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 fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.79 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

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.