Cooke & Bieler LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 955,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 56,382 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.71% of Commerce Bancshares worth $59,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBSH. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 55.0% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 651 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price (up previously from $66.50) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.80.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:CBSH traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.63. 1,375,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 621,416. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.88. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $52.69 and a one year high of $72.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $445.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.11 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 26.37%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.19%.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total transaction of $98,244.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $192,786. This trade represents a 33.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

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.