OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $19.00 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. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $14.03 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 1.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 925,283 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,635,000 after buying an additional 223,203 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,828,000 after buying an additional 158,590 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.