California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,825 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,178 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $13,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $855,884,000 after purchasing an additional 66,243 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,097,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,820,000 after buying an additional 66,223 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,270,000 after acquiring an additional 94,252 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 834,015 shares of the bank's stock worth $111,967,000 after buying an additional 9,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 822,432 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,418,000 after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CFR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.57.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

CFR stock traded down $7.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $106.70. 82,033 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 464,433. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is 42.84%.

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.