BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday.

BancFirst Stock Up 1.9 %

BANF stock traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $109.54. The company had a trading volume of 151,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,761. BancFirst has a 52 week low of $81.56 and a 52 week high of $132.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.74.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.09. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The business had revenue of $164.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.72 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In other BancFirst news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at $25,553,265.87. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.97, for a total value of $589,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,820. The trade was a 45.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $2,994,350 in the last ninety days. 32.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth $26,649,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BancFirst in the fourth quarter worth $11,958,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 12.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 34,094.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 63,944 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,026,000 after acquiring an additional 63,757 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 13.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,823,000 after purchasing an additional 58,016 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.