BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Short Interest Up 27.7% in January

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) saw a significant increase in short interest during 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 short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

BOK Financial Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BOKF traded down $2.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $108.03. The company had a trading volume of 115,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,965. BOK Financial has a 52 week low of $78.99 and a 52 week high of $121.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $112.10 and its 200-day moving average is $107.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

BOK Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. BOK Financial’s payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of BOK Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BOK Financial from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised BOK Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on BOK Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on BOK Financial from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BOK Financial news, Director Steven Bangert sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 value of $235,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,061.47. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 59.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in BOK Financial by 28.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 223,745 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,408,000 after acquiring an additional 48,942 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of BOK Financial by 55.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 136,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,315,000 after purchasing an additional 48,874 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of BOK Financial by 7.8% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 136,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,238,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in BOK Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 82,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,643,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in BOK Financial by 309.8% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 44,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,662,000 after buying an additional 33,686 shares in the last quarter. 34.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.