Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 48,880 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 38.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,571 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 48,880 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.14% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,295 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Weiss Ratings raised OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $19.77 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 0.99.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 94.12%.

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.