Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 231,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,639,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.42% of ServisFirst Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFBS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

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ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SFBS traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.12. 209,172 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,711. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $58.11 and a one year high of $101.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $87.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.95. 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 (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is 32.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

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.