Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 667 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,951,000 after buying an additional 163,782 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,764,000 after purchasing an additional 43,928 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 899,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,027,000 after purchasing an additional 7,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% during 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. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $61.44 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.42 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.42 and a 200 day moving average of $64.43. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released 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 net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Raymond James lowered Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

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.