American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 745,661 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $228,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.3 %

CBSH opened at $61.24 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.49 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.42 and a 200 day moving average of $64.42. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its 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 return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

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 that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,844,028.96. The trade was a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.17.

About Commerce Bancshares

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.