Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $943,000 Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 52,093 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 15,225 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of OceanFirst Financial worth $943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 289,230 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 178,761 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,695,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in 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 buying an additional 121,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,837 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,911,000 after buying an additional 88,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.72. 43,887 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.03 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The company has a market cap of $976.12 million, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $16.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.66 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James cut their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group cut their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.