Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 166,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,387,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,050,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 10,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Commerce Bancshares news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.30, for a total value of $115,688.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,257,702.40. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $61.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.42 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 27.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.17.

About Commerce Bancshares

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.