Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Acquired by Boxwood Ventures Inc.

Boxwood Ventures Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bancshares accounts for approximately 2.0% of Boxwood Ventures Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Boxwood Ventures Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $86,327,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,991,000 after acquiring an additional 745,661 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $824,080,000 after acquiring an additional 642,401 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,594,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,364,000 after purchasing an additional 182,423 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. The trade was a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,456.66. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $61.62 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.46. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.49 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. 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 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

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.