Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 1,425 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 17.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $440,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 24.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 82,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,654,000 after acquiring an additional 16,219 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 9.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 491,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,567,000 after purchasing an additional 43,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $220,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $95.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.56 and a 12 month high of $101.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.07 and a 200 day moving average of $76.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.61 and a beta of 0.86.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SFBS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 24th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.