JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Has $25.80 Million Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd reduced its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 63,689 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned 0.58% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $25,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $47,456,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,684,000 after purchasing an additional 442,225 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $19,639,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,280,000 after purchasing an additional 112,521 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.93. The company had a trading volume of 7,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,807. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.15. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.51 and a 1-year high of $101.37.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 30.45%.

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.