JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $23,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 4.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 498,113 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,915,000 after purchasing an additional 21,765 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,758 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 633.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,639 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 15,235 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.03 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.02.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. Equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

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.