Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,205 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SFBS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.32. 195,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,611. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.40 and its 200-day moving average is $85.55.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.21%.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.