BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,094 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,563 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in BancFirst were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in BancFirst by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,085 shares of the bank's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of BancFirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,005 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in BancFirst by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,743 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in BancFirst by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,684 shares of the bank's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total transaction of $1,191,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 214,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,553,265.87. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.61, for a total transaction of $506,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 32.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th.

BancFirst Price Performance

BancFirst stock traded up $3.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $126.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 91,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,577. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.78. BancFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $81.56 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $115.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $164.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.72 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.84%.

BancFirst 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.