Aviso Financial Inc. Sells 148 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Aviso Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 53,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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 upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of SFBS opened at $83.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.11 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.86 and a 200-day moving average of $86.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. 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 32.21%.

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.