Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 1.4 %

CBSH opened at $67.65 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.09 and a 52 week high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.19.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commerce Bancshares news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total value of $1,752,105.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,258,583.12. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,339 shares of company stock worth $4,985,251 in the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.