OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 38.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,571 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 48,880 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% during the second 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 during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.5%

OCFC opened at $19.77 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $16.92 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. On average, research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on OCFC. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company 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 report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.