LPL Financial LLC Sells 2,443 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

LPL Financial LLC lessened its stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,106 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,443 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of Business First Bancshares worth $748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,441,000 after purchasing an additional 24,992 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 158.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 28,663 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 25.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 171,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,365,000 after buying an additional 34,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 407,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,468,000 after buying an additional 27,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $466,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 3.4 %

BFST opened at $23.25 on Wednesday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $687.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. Analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.