Millennium Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,459 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 33,041 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.55% of OceanFirst Financial worth $5,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 455.5% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 71,704 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 58,795 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,391,127 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 59,216.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,012 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 50,926 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $57,027,000 after purchasing an additional 105,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 32.6% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 272,243 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 66,918 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.90.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.31. 188,756 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 310,146. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $18.98. The firm's 50-day moving average is $17.29 and its 200-day moving average is $16.24.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $170.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.93 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 5.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 46.78%.

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.