Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 700,247 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.20% of OceanFirst Financial worth $12,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 140,665 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,546,000 after buying an additional 30,373 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 299,434 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,566,000 after buying an additional 34,458 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,519 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 6,496 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $446,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $356,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.0%

OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.62. The stock had a trading volume of 236,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,977. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87. The company has a market capitalization of $970.34 million, a P/E ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.91. 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 (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.66 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 52.29%.

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.