Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 120,954 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 120,954 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Commerce Bancshares worth $16,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,631,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $672,004,000 after purchasing an additional 259,127 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $1,226,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $1,006,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 181.3% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 11,540 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 138.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 18,496 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBSH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.79.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 888 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $64,024.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,038 shares in the company, valued at $579,539.80. The trade was a 9.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total transaction of $1,853,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,151,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,170,189.32. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,219 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,803. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:CBSH traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.57. 556,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 621,438. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.74. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.72 and a fifty-two week high of $73.31.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $421.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.85 million. Research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

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.