Prudential PLC Buys Shares of 9,560 Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,560 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,069 shares of the bank's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 45,392 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,272,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the bank's stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PB. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total value of $39,505.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 108,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,557,968.15. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,500 shares of company stock worth $408,695. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PB traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.72. 1,160,269 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,478. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.16 and a 12-month high of $86.76.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. Research analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

About Prosperity Bancshares

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.