Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 8,253 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,571 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 8,253 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $1,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,504 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC stock opened at $17.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.82. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.