Arvest Bank Trust Division Takes Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,585 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management boosted its position in BancFirst by 50.8% during the third quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,702,082 shares of the bank's stock worth $177,936,000 after purchasing an additional 573,224 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth about $112,370,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank's stock worth $92,187,000 after buying an additional 96,483 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BancFirst by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,823,000 after buying an additional 58,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in BancFirst by 499.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,053,000 after buying an additional 48,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:BANF traded down $2.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $126.63. 111,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,144. BancFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $81.21 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. The firm had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. As a group, research analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $85,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,941,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,594,920. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total transaction of $1,089,162.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,944,702 shares in the company, valued at $519,292,604.04. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,521 shares of company stock worth $16,531,988. 33.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BANF. StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

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.