Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 worth $142,951,000 after acquiring an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% during 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 buying an additional 43,928 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $42,006,000 after buying an additional 106,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 474,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,244,000 after buying an additional 21,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,258,583.12. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $61.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.48. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.89 and a 12-month high of $72.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly 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. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Company 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.