Wesbanco Bank Inc. Decreases Stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its holdings in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,110 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in BancFirst by 33.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of BancFirst by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in BancFirst during the third quarter valued at $105,000. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $118.63 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $121.47 and its 200 day moving average is $111.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. BancFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $81.21 and a 52-week high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. Research analysts predict that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $567,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 306,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,833,604. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 24,421 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.78, for a total transaction of $2,705,358.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,910,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,929,800. The trade was a 0.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,869 shares of company stock valued at $14,309,535 in the last three months. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

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.