Bfsg LLC Sells 488 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Bfsg LLC reduced its stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,283 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708,509 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,162,000 after purchasing an additional 15,309 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,183,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,518 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 889,219 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,002,000 after purchasing an additional 53,654 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.5% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 834,701 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 818,744 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,007,000 after buying an additional 6,972 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.50, for a total transaction of $346,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,953 shares in the company, valued at $19,890,934.50. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.30, for a total transaction of $39,150.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 106,815 shares in the company, valued at $8,363,614.50. The trade was a 0.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,100 shares of company stock worth $1,232,559. Company insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PB stock opened at $78.47 on Wednesday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.16 and a 12-month high of $86.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.73 and its 200 day moving average is $75.80.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.04. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 6.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

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.