Financial Advocates Investment Management Acquires 346 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Stewardship LLC lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 3.9% in the third quarter. Sound Stewardship LLC now owns 4,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Verde Capital Management boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 3,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total value of $1,752,105.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,258,583.12. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total transaction of $34,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,265 shares in the company, valued at $1,526,265.75. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,339 shares of company stock worth $4,985,251 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $67.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.19. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.09 and a 52-week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

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.