Creative Planning Acquires 205 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,699,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,228,000 after buying an additional 221,507 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 34.0% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,438,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,484,000 after buying an additional 364,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,230,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,775,000 after buying an additional 36,302 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 929,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,733,000 after buying an additional 43,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 472,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,450 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 2.4 %

SFBS opened at $95.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.17 and its 200-day moving average is $72.83. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.06 and a 1-year high of $98.00. 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 has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66 and a beta of 0.86.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $724,285.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.