Ethic Inc. Sells 3,889 Shares of Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB)

Ethic Inc. cut its stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB - Free Report) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,618 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,889 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 487.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 368.5% in the fourth 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 349.5% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 917 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Prosperity Bancshares

In other Prosperity Bancshares news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.63, for a total transaction of $35,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 104,815 shares in the company, valued at $7,403,083.45. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 5,500 shares of company stock worth $382,420 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Prosperity Bancshares Stock Performance

PB traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $72.67. 615,943 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 585,248. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $68.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.07. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.16 and a twelve month high of $86.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.70.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.64% and a net margin of 26.79%. The business had revenue of $306.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $307.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Prosperity Bancshares's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Prosperity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on Prosperity Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.71.

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.