231,752 Shares in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

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

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SFBS shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SFBS traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.64. 24,915 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 224,552. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 0.89. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.43 and a twelve month high of $101.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $131.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is 30.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.