Apriem Advisors Grows Stock Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Apriem Advisors boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,951,000 after buying an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 474,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,244,000 after purchasing an additional 21,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 391,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,421,000 after purchasing an additional 29,032 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value 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 approximately $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,771,192. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $64.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.89 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.47.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CBSH shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.83.

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.