JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $10.13 Million Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 394,331 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,470 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.33% of Business First Bancshares worth $10,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,599,000 after buying an additional 245,491 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $111,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,402 shares of the company's stock worth $13,837,000 after acquiring an additional 88,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 101,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,254. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $672.17 million, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.93.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.78%.

Business First Bancshares Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.