Brian Schaeffer Sells 3,500 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $54,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $648,535.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $15.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $921.16 million, a P/E ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $12.01 and a fifty-two week high of $19.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth about $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 19.3% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $176,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.