Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 9,321 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,321 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $824,080,000 after purchasing an additional 642,401 shares during the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 8,566,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $533,777,000 after purchasing an additional 351,406 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,991,000 after purchasing an additional 745,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,756,000 after purchasing an additional 87,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,272,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $141,584,000 after purchasing an additional 227,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CBSH shares. Morgan Stanley raised Commerce Bancshares from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.63. The company had a trading volume of 443,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,672. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.41. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.97 and a 52 week high of $72.75. The company 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.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $428.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.85 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,786. The trade was a 33.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.