Entropy Technologies LP Trims Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its holdings in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,902 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst during the third quarter worth about $105,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in BancFirst by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 83.5% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,464 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,500. The trade was a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 24,607 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $3,068,492.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 224,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,995,025.30. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,607 shares of company stock worth $5,377,543. Insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of BANF stock opened at $119.95 on Friday. BancFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.05. 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 $119.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.33.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. On average, equities research analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BANF. StockNews.com cut shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

About BancFirst

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.