BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Short Interest Update

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 361,700 shares, an increase of 27.7% from the December 31st total of 283,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 158,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BOKF. StockNews.com raised BOK Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of BOK Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens cut their target price on BOK Financial from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BOK Financial from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BOK Financial from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BOK Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.40.

Insider Activity at BOK Financial

In other BOK Financial news, Director Steven Bangert sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.83, for a total transaction of $235,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 44,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,061.47. This represents a 4.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 56.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in BOK Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BOK Financial by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in BOK Financial by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in BOK Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of BOK Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $671,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.44% of the company’s stock.

BOK Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:BOKF traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $110.42. 113,915 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 127,652. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.33 and its 200-day moving average is $107.83. The stock has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. BOK Financial has a 1-year low of $78.99 and a 1-year high of $121.58.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. BOK Financial had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities research analysts expect that BOK Financial will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BOK Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. BOK Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management.