Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 372,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,620 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $31,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $234,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SFBS opened at $69.10 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $83.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.61. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.11 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.89.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SFBS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

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.