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

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 633,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,296 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $53,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $69.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 0.89. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.11 and a 1 year high of $101.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.21%.

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.