Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $758,000 Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 66.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,873 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,643 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.07% of OceanFirst Financial worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OCFC. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,048 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $183,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Raymond James lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.29. 260,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 299,040. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.68. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $14.10 and a 12 month high of $21.87.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.29%.

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.