ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Stake Decreased by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 633,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 75,296 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 1.16% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $53,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 761.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SFBS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS traded down $0.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $68.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 69,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,607. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.43 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.21%.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.