OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Purchased by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 121.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,837 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 88,292 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.28% of OceanFirst Financial worth $2,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,499,000 after buying an additional 289,230 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $12,630,000 after purchasing an additional 178,761 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,695,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $21,879,000 after acquiring an additional 121,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 518.5% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 103,961 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 87,152 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of OCFC traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.10. 118,012 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,788. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $16.44 and its 200-day moving average is $17.74. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $998.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.29%.

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.