AlphaQuest LLC Buys 18,884 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 218.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,884 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned about 0.05% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $2,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 12.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $222,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $80.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 235,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,399. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.88. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.11 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 0.91. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 32.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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 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.