Arizona State Retirement System Buys 1,822 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 3,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.9% during 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 grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 3,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

CBSH opened at $60.86 on Tuesday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.89 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.68 and its 200 day moving average is $64.59. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CBSH shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,016 shares of company stock worth $5,422,811 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.