OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC Shares Sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by 36.1%, owning 398,388 shares after selling 225,083 shares in the first quarter.
• Zacks Research downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, with an average rating of "Hold" and a target price of $20.67 from analysts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.4% and a payout ratio of 56.74%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 398,388 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 225,083 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.68% of OceanFirst Financial worth $6,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 132.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,325 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 4,172 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $175,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,728 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,132 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.30. 169,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,405. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.19. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $99.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Zacks Research cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial 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.