Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 642,401 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 642,401 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.31% of Commerce Bancshares worth $824,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $47,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.17.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,844,028.96. The trade was a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock traded down $4.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 934,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 580,129. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.49 and a 52-week high of $72.75. The firm's 50-day moving average is $63.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.41. The company has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.43%.

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.