Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires 87,152 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 518.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,961 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 87,152 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.18% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 6,001.3% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,152 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on OCFC. Hovde Group decreased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James cut their price objective 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, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.21. The company had a trading volume of 44,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,327. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $16.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.96. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.03 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.