Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,248 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.32% of BancFirst worth $12,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,187,000 after purchasing an additional 96,483 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 58,016 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in BancFirst by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,242,000 after acquiring an additional 26,707 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,204 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,599,000 after acquiring an additional 32,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 81.6% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,554,000 after acquiring an additional 32,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock opened at $116.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $81.21 and a 12 month high of $132.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.45.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.58, for a total transaction of $602,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $723,480. This trade represents a 45.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total value of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,500. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,309,050. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.