New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,857 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,700 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $22,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,804,000. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 24.6% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 228,992 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,177 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in 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 period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $372,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 3.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.66, for a total value of $42,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 113,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,593,247.90. This represents a 0.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Harrison Stafford II sold 4,000 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total transaction of $320,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 107,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,578,459.59. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,000 shares of company stock worth $1,140,995. 4.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PB. StockNews.com upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.88.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PB opened at $76.50 on Friday. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.16 and a 1 year high of $86.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day moving average is $75.94.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.82 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, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 45.85%.

Prosperity Bancshares 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.