Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 182,212 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 405,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 182,212 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Commerce Bancshares worth $25,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,362 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $842,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $824,080,000 after acquiring an additional 642,401 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,353,000 after acquiring an additional 17,400 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBSH has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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 upgraded Commerce Bancshares from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.63. 443,395 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,672. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.97 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $60.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.41.

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. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The company had revenue of $428.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.85 million. Analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Commerce Bancshares's payout ratio is 26.63%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total value of $98,244.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,175 shares in the company, valued at $192,786. This represents a 33.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.