Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stock Position in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,732 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,366 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.54% of BancFirst worth $19,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BANF. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 779.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 211.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 582 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $135,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total value of $620,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $744,720. This represents a 45.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 32.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of BANF opened at $135.30 on Friday. BancFirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $95.78 and a 52-week high of $137.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $125.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The company had revenue of $169.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $163.62 million. Research analysts forecast that BancFirst Corporation will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. BancFirst’s payout ratio is currently 27.84%.

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.