Clark & Stuart Inc Purchases Shares of 85,336 Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 85,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,317,000. Commerce Bancshares makes up 3.9% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,951,000 after buying an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,069,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,453,000 after acquiring an additional 342,793 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% during the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 624,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 567,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,653,000 after purchasing an additional 13,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total value of $1,853,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,151,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,170,189.32. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total transaction of $34,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,526,265.75. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,398 shares of company stock valued at $2,504,665. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 2.6 %

CBSH opened at $61.15 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.79. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.09 and a 12 month high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company had revenue of $421.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.85 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 28.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James cut Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.75.

Commerce Bancshares Profile

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.