BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,298 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 155.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in BancFirst by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $116.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.92. BancFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $81.56 and a 52-week high of $132.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.82.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $164.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.72 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.97, for a total transaction of $589,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,820. The trade was a 45.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 214,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,553,265.87. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,994,350. Company 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.