Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 23,232 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 55.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,883 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,232 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $265,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 611,722 shares of the bank's stock worth $82,124,000 after acquiring an additional 14,422 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,013,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,019 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CFR. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,876.85. This trade represents a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CFR opened at $128.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.68. The company's fifty day moving average is $125.01 and its 200 day moving average is $128.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.94 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $540.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is 43.91%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company Profile

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Frost Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in Texas. The company offers commercial banking services to corporations, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, interim construction related to industrial and commercial properties, equipment, inventories and accounts receivables, and acquisitions; and treasury management services, as well as originates commercial leasing services.

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