ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. cut its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,205 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,377,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,241,000 after buying an additional 60,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,126,000 after acquiring an additional 23,555 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,466,000 after acquiring an additional 108,088 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,280,000 after acquiring an additional 112,521 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 708,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,983,000 after purchasing an additional 83,804 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE SFBS opened at $88.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $101.37.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFBS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that provides various banking services to individual and corporate customers. It accepts demand, time, savings, and other deposits; checking, money market, and IRA accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include commercial lending products, including seasonal, bridge, and term loans for working capital, expansion of the business, acquisition of property, and plant and equipment, as well as commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, and residential real estate loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, vehicle financing, loans secured by deposits, and secured and unsecured personal loans.