AlphaQuest LLC Buys 18,884 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 218.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,884 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned about 0.05% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $2,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. State Street Corp grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,377,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,241,000 after purchasing an additional 60,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,126,000 after buying an additional 23,555 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,277,000 after buying an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,280,000 after acquiring an additional 112,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,684,000 after acquiring an additional 442,225 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $85.47 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $88.13 and a 200-day moving average of $86.82. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $58.11 and a one year high of $101.37. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.