Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $65,764,000 after purchasing an additional 43,928 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commerce Bancshares news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. This trade represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,016 shares of company stock valued at $5,355,121 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $60.71 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.49. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.89 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CBSH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.