Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 5,258 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 8.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 202,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,908 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 929,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,733,000 after buying an additional 43,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $93.00 on Monday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.05 and a 1 year high of $101.37. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $90.11 and its 200-day moving average is $78.57. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFBS. Hovde Group lifted their price target 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 lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 24th.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In related news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was 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 $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.