Advisory Services Network LLC Lowers Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Advisory Services Network LLC lowered its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 93.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,754 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFBS. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.58. 22,945 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 244,110. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.43 and a 1 year high of $101.37.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The business had revenue of $131.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors 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 yield of 1.90%. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is 32.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.