Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,055,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 43,928 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $65,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $91,524,000 after buying an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 3,635.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 153,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,544,000 after buying an additional 149,070 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 106,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,087,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 1,582 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.54, for a total transaction of $106,848.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,723.86. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total value of $67,690.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,439,427.85. This trade represents a 4.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,016 shares of company stock valued at $5,422,811 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $59.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.56. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.89 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

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.