Short Interest in BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Expands By 31.0%

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 430,800 shares, an increase of 31.0% from the February 28th total of 328,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 134,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BOKF. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of BOK Financial in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Stephens decreased their target price on BOK Financial from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on BOK Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded BOK Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BOK Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $118.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BOKF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BOK Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,445,542 shares of the bank's stock valued at $260,328,000 after purchasing an additional 11,418 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in BOK Financial by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,372,203 shares of the bank's stock valued at $252,526,000 after buying an additional 98,588 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BOK Financial by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 414,548 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 184,261 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BOK Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 410,570 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,718,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BOK Financial by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 252,779 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,908,000 after acquiring an additional 57,420 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.44% of the company's stock.

BOK Financial Stock Performance

BOKF traded down $4.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.91. The stock had a trading volume of 195,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,404. BOK Financial has a twelve month low of $85.02 and a twelve month high of $121.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $106.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.11.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. BOK Financial had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 9.86%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BOK Financial will post 8.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BOK Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. BOK Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management.