AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 120,827 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 718,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 120,827 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.56% of Commerce Bancshares worth $44,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total value of $98,244.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,175 shares in the company, valued at $192,786. This represents a 33.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 86,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,147 shares of company stock worth $1,083,227. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH stock traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 353,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,210. The company's fifty day moving average price is $60.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.29. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.97 and a twelve month high of $72.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $428.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. Equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Commerce Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 26.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CBSH. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Commerce Bancshares from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.20.

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.