Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires New Stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,584 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $889,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BancFirst by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 779.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in BancFirst by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,684 shares of the bank's stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BancFirst stock traded up $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $118.88. The company had a trading volume of 20,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,880. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $81.56 and a twelve month high of $132.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $111.08 and a 200-day moving average of $116.42.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.09. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $164.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.72 million. Research analysts predict that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. BancFirst's payout ratio is currently 27.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total value of $1,191,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at $25,553,265.87. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Darryl Schmidt sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.06, for a total value of $610,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,564 shares in the company, valued at $5,317,421.84. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $2,994,350. Insiders own 32.43% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Company Profile

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.