ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 553 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SFBS opened at $89.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59 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 company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.18.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders 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 boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.21%.

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.