Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 75,296 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 633,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,296 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 1.16% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $53,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFBS. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 139,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,825,000 after purchasing an additional 8,950 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,968,000 after purchasing an additional 5,131 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 411,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,910,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SFBS opened at $69.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.11 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 0.89.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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.