KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Shares in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 26,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth $47,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John K. Handy sold 2,722 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $181,502.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,061.84. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,456.66. The trade was a 35.34 % 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 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 1.0 %

CBSH opened at $61.62 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.41. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.49 and a 52-week high of $72.75. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The company 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. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

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.