PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,234,836 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,868,000 after buying an additional 40,030 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 143.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 380,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 224,146 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 33.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 20,178 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares during the last quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 9.0% in the third quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 773,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after buying an additional 63,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,015,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $15.89 on Monday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $12.01 and a 1 year high of $19.58. The firm has a market cap of $932.90 million, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $98.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.45 million. Research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total value of $54,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,868 shares in the company, valued at $648,535.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

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.