Fmr LLC Raises Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 11.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,533 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $7,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BANF. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in BancFirst by 1.4% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 2.6% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 2.3% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the bank’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $85,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,941,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,594,920. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total value of $506,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,500. This represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,150 shares of company stock worth $15,442,825 in the last 90 days. 33.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $126.63 on Friday. BancFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. On average, equities analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BANF shares. StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.