Barclays PLC Raises Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.08% of Commerce Bancshares worth $6,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,724,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Sound Stewardship LLC boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Stewardship LLC now owns 4,339 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 18,257 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total transaction of $67,690.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,265 shares in the company, valued at $1,439,427.85. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 1,582 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.54, for a total transaction of $106,848.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,723.86. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,398 shares of company stock valued at $2,504,665. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CBSH. Raymond James lowered Commerce Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a 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 Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.07.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.03. 1,613,998 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 559,358. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.77. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.09 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The firm's 50 day moving average is $67.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.07.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $412.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 15.93%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 28.13%.

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.