ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Stake Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,916 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.93% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $89,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFBS. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,377,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $191,241,000 after acquiring an additional 60,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $93,126,000 after purchasing an additional 23,555 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,280,000 after purchasing an additional 112,521 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 708,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,983,000 after purchasing an additional 83,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 9.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 491,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,567,000 after purchasing an additional 43,844 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $86.43. The company had a trading volume of 234,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,949. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $101.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78 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. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $88.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.71.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFBS has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.