Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 538 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,925 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 31.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 981 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Prosperity Bancshares

In other news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total transaction of $39,505.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 108,315 shares in the company, valued at $8,557,968.15. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 5,000 shares of company stock worth $376,885 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Down 0.6 %

Prosperity Bancshares stock opened at $63.61 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.82. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.16 and a 1-year high of $86.76. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Prosperity Bancshares from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Stephens increased their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.35.

Prosperity Bancshares Company Profile

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc operates as bank holding company for the Prosperity Bank that provides financial products and services to businesses and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, money market, and time accounts, as well as and certificates of deposit. The company also offers 1-4 family residential mortgage, commercial real estate and multifamily residential, commercial and industrial, agricultural, and non-real estate agricultural loans, as well as construction, land development, and other land loans; consumer loans, including automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans; term loans and lines of credit; and consumer durables and home equity loans, as well as loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery.