Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 80,056 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,584 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $2,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 256.4% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 151,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,618,000 after purchasing an additional 32,621 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $266,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 93.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,921 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $83,724.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,807,746.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $83,724.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,303 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,746.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.18, for a total transaction of $54,377.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,945.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,549 shares of company stock worth $178,118. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFST opened at $33.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.90. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.98 and a 52-week high of $39.36.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $54.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.13 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit.