Blue Trust Inc. Sells 7,913 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,913 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $84,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:SFBS opened at $89.61 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.05 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day moving average is $84.19. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 35.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SFBS. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

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.