Sanctuary Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,262 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $8,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 216,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,457,000 after acquiring an additional 14,859 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter worth $10,507,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFBS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $90.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $101.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.22 and its 200 day moving average is $85.69. 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 (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s 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 dated 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

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.