Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,286 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,665 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 39.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 37,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,906,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BancFirst by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the bank's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in BancFirst by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,276 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,659,000 after buying an additional 29,050 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in BancFirst by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,204 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,599,000 after buying an additional 32,636 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in BancFirst by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,823,000 after buying an additional 58,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

BANF has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,174,500. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.58, for a total transaction of $602,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,480. This represents a 45.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,500,350. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:BANF traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $115.17. 85,406 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 90,559. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $118.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.02. BancFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $81.21 and a twelve month high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. BancFirst's payout ratio is 28.57%.

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.