Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 11,495 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 83.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,495 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SFBS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,714,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $484,249,000 after buying an additional 25,956 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $93,126,000 after acquiring an additional 23,555 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,277,000 after purchasing an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,280,000 after purchasing an additional 112,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,684,000 after purchasing an additional 442,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.72. 311,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 224,072. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.27 and a 200 day moving average of $86.16. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.43 and a 1 year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.89.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

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.