Strategy Asset Managers LLC Buys 218 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,512,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $1,336,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $581,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $914,285.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $61.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.43. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.49 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Commerce Bancshares’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank that provides retail, mortgage banking, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth.