StockNews.com Downgrades First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) to Hold

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

FBIZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Business Financial Services from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Business Financial Services from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

First Business Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of First Business Financial Services stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.50. The company had a trading volume of 14,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,688. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.00. First Business Financial Services has a 1-year low of $32.56 and a 1-year high of $52.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $394.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.87.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $66.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.80 million. First Business Financial Services had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 15.46%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Business Financial Services will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Business Financial Services

In other First Business Financial Services news, CEO Corey A. Chambas sold 40,000 shares of First Business Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total transaction of $1,952,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,503,327.50. The trade was a 26.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William Kent Lorenz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $49,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $408,709. This trade represents a 10.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,344 shares of company stock worth $2,275,144. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Business Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Business Financial Services by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 537,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,893,000 after buying an additional 7,871 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Business Financial Services by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 365,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,682,000 after acquiring an additional 12,194 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Business Financial Services by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 173,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in First Business Financial Services by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 136,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares during the period. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP increased its holdings in First Business Financial Services by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 66,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 20,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.07% of the company’s stock.

First Business Financial Services Company Profile

First Business Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri.