JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,138,685 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 102,506 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.95% of OceanFirst Financial worth $20,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,257 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $539,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $21,879,000 after acquiring an additional 121,923 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 733,190 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,400,000 after purchasing an additional 20,249 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 763,840 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,826,000 after acquiring an additional 30,399 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. Hovde Group cut their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James dropped their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ OCFC traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $15.51. 14,845 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 294,270. The firm has a market cap of $923.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.03 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 48.48%.

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.