Marshall Wace LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,513 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.06% of Bank First worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bank First in the 1st quarter worth about $2,054,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank First by 167.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 23,705 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank First during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $241,000. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank First during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,560,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Bank First by 169.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Bank First from $84.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th.

Bank First Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFC opened at $87.85 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $88.69 and its 200 day moving average is $84.78. Bank First Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.00 and a fifty-two week high of $96.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $885.62 million, a PE ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Bank First had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 32.18%. The business had revenue of $55.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank First Co. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank First Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 25th. This is an increase from Bank First’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Bank First’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.78%.

About Bank First

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products.