Hennessy Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 200,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $3,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 valued at $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after buying an additional 925,283 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,196,000 after buying an additional 164,626 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,049,000 after buying an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $18.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.29 and a 200-day moving average of $18.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.06. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. Sell-side analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on OCFC. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group upped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.