HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 17,504 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,504 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $4,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $2,125,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 202,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,773,000 after buying an additional 14,908 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SFBS shares. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SFBS traded up $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.04. 335,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,396. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.83 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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.