Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 8,068 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,068 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $4,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,984,000 after acquiring an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,062,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 372,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,541,000 after buying an additional 3,620 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 11,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 65,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,592,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFBS traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.72. 311,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 224,072. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $81.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.43 and a twelve month high of $101.37.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS 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 firm earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,436 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SFBS shares. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a 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.