Comerica Bank Sells 604 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 604 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,714,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,249,000 after acquiring an additional 25,956 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,277,000 after purchasing an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased 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 worth $80,280,000 after purchasing an additional 112,521 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,684,000 after purchasing an additional 442,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 632,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,561,000 after buying an additional 38,916 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $74.62 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.51 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.83.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $131.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.13 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 30.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

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.