ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 4.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 98,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $7,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SFBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,230,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,775,000 after purchasing an additional 36,302 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 9.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 472,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,450 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,428,000 after purchasing an additional 400,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at $24,805,505.46. This represents a 3.75 % 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 Stock Performance

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $97.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.36 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.73.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SFBS. StockNews.com cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.