Apriem Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Apriem Advisors boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lowered Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $64.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.89 and a 52-week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $311,490.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 23,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,244.50. The trade was a 15.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $914,285.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,054 shares of company stock worth $5,771,192. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

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.