American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 25.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 745,661 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.87% of Commerce Bancshares worth $228,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,512,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $914,285.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,844,028.96. The trade was 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 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CBSH. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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 boosted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $61.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.42. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.49 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

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.