Millennium Management LLC Sells 153,948 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Millennium Management LLC cut its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 69.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,818 shares of the bank's stock after selling 153,948 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $9,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter worth $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CFR. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.93.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFR traded down $1.87 on Wednesday, reaching $127.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 340,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,233. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $147.64. The company has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The business had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $540.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the acquisition, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,876.85. The trade was a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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.