Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 12,653 ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 34.0% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,438,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $95,484,000 after buying an additional 364,720 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,699,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,228,000 after purchasing an additional 221,507 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $10,507,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,181,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE SFBS traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.58. 183,511 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 203,217. 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 1 year low of $49.72 and a 1 year high of $100.14. The business's 50 day moving average is $83.91 and its 200-day moving average is $73.96. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 0.86.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $966,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by 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.