American Century Companies Inc. Sells 100,615 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. by 61.4%, selling 100,615 shares and leaving it with approximately 0.12% of the company valued at $5.2 million.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and Victory Capital Management Inc. have increased their holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.3% and 25.1%, respectively, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• The company's CEO, Thomas A. Broughton, sold 22,206 shares for nearly $1.95 million, reducing his ownership by 3.61% and bringing his total holdings to approximately $52.1 million.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 61.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 100,615 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $5,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 7.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,581,000 after acquiring an additional 11,194 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.0% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,298,000 after buying an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of SFBS traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.59. The stock had a trading volume of 124,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,703. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.48 and a 12 month high of $101.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.89.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 24.62%.The company had revenue of $132.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.26 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total transaction of $1,953,905.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 592,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,141,818.12. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServisFirst Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.50.

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.