Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Sold by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,799 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 102,920.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 133,790,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,107,097,000 after purchasing an additional 133,660,305 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,332,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,743,000 after purchasing an additional 117,162 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,934,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,003,000 after purchasing an additional 217,024 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,736,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,825 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,304,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,739,000 after buying an additional 111,594 shares in the last quarter. 69.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.17.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total transaction of $96,086.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,806,911.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $30,853.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,909.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total transaction of $96,086.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,806,911.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:CBSH traded down $0.48 on Monday, reaching $50.42. The stock had a trading volume of 437,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,066. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.26. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.91 and a 12-month high of $59.05.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $393.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.34 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 29.75%.

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.