OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 165,352 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $2,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% during the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,230 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,074,000 after buying an additional 157,711 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,879,000 after buying an additional 121,923 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,675,259 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $30,322,000 after buying an additional 67,010 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 115,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 43,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC opened at $16.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $954.53 million, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.13.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. As a group, research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on OCFC. Raymond James lowered their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.