Inceptionr LLC Purchases New Shares in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of 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. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SFBS shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 Stock Down 1.3 %

SFBS traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $80.50. 235,307 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 206,399. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.11 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The stock's 50-day moving average is $87.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.88. 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 (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. 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.