Fmr LLC Trims Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

FMR LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,559,748 shares of the bank's stock after selling 50,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 2.43% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $209,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total transaction of $1,603,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $111.54. 426,124 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,020. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.86. 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 capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

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.