BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Friday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock traded up $4.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 231,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,961. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.77. BancFirst has a one year low of $95.78 and a one year high of $137.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $169.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.62 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 14.38%. On average, analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.61, for a total value of $506,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total transaction of $620,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $744,720. This represents a 45.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 32.43% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,649,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 34,094.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 63,944 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,026,000 after acquiring an additional 63,757 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,912,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,635,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 175,457 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,560,000 after acquiring an additional 46,253 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.