Short Interest in BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Expands By 24.6%

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 293,900 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the November 30th total of 235,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 153,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens decreased their price target on BOK Financial from $116.00 to $114.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of BOK Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of BOK Financial from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of BOK Financial from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of BOK Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BOK Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.40.

BOK Financial Price Performance

BOKF stock opened at $107.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. BOK Financial has a 52-week low of $77.86 and a 52-week high of $121.58.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.20. BOK Financial had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $888.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BOK Financial will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

BOK Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This is a positive change from BOK Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. BOK Financial’s payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven Bangert sold 2,000 shares of BOK Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.83, for a total value of $235,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,061.47. This trade represents a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 56.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BOK Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of BOK Financial by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in BOK Financial by 11.7% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 126,228 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,567,000 after acquiring an additional 13,175 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new stake in BOK Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $210,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BOK Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $147,000. Finally, Elk River Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BOK Financial by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.44% of the company’s stock.

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.