Wells Fargo & Company MN Increases Stock Holdings in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,935 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 14,279 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.16% of Prosperity Bancshares worth $11,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew 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 buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 592 shares of the bank's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PB traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.74. The company had a trading volume of 467,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,711. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.49. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.16 and a 12-month high of $86.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PB. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Prosperity Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens upped their price target 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, Bank of America raised Prosperity Bancshares from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.92, for a total value of $39,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 107,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,616,574.80. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock worth $402,415 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

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.