OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,444 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 33,316 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $3,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 11.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,394,141 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,660,000 after buying an additional 139,646 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter worth $1,015,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 6.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,344 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after buying an additional 43,649 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 17.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 517,771 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,492,000 after buying an additional 76,317 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 143.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 380,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after buying an additional 224,146 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James lowered their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Monday. Finally, TheStreet raised OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $15.47 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.40. The firm has a market cap of $920.93 million, a P/E ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $19.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

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.