Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Sells 21,508 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC reduced its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by 32.5%, now owning 44,767 shares valued at $761,000.
• Several large investors have increased their holdings in OceanFirst, with Royce & Associates LP raising its stake by 34.3% during the first quarter.
• Analysts currently rate OceanFirst Financial as a "Hold" with a consensus target price of $20.67, following a recent downgrade to "strong sell" by Zacks Research.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 32.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,767 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 21,508 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.08% of OceanFirst Financial worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 132.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,325 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $175,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,728 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 25.8% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,132 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC traded up $0.02 on Monday, hitting $18.14. 9,100 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,786. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $14.29 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.18. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.07.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. As a group, research analysts expect 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, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Zacks Research lowered OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 1st. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

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.