OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• OceanFirst Financial shares moved above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as $19.57 and last changing hands at $19.53, which may signal improved short-term momentum.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00, with most analysts assigning hold ratings.
• Recent earnings were mixed, as OceanFirst beat EPS expectations at $0.43 per share but missed revenue estimates, reporting $103.19 million versus the $143.25 million forecast.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $18.58 and traded as high as $19.57. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 825,414 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson raised their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised OceanFirst Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $18.63 and its 200-day moving average is $18.58.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $103.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $143.25 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 493,623 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $8,905,000 after purchasing an additional 68,347 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,065 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation NASDAQ: OCFC is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company's core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.

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