Swiss National Bank Acquires 12,016 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 252,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Commerce Bancshares worth $15,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,951,000 after acquiring an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 219,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,764,000 after purchasing an additional 43,928 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 899,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,027,000 after buying an additional 7,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $42,006,000 after buying an additional 106,316 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,258,583.12. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

CBSH stock opened at $62.34 on Thursday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.96 and a 52 week high of $72.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.45 and its 200 day moving average is $64.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Company 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.