John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Sells 26,900 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 54.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,700 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 26,900 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. CRA Financial Services LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 25,314 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 42,300 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 15,194 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other OceanFirst Financial news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total value of $54,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,535.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $17.05. 19,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,410. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $19.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $98.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.45 million. Research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.