Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 120,954 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Commerce Bancshares worth $16,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $581,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,353,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $522,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 110,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,559,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP David L. Roller sold 890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $64,320.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,949 shares in the company, valued at $2,236,684.23. This trade represents a 2.80 % 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, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total transaction of $34,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,526,265.75. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,398 shares of company stock valued at $2,504,665. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.09 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.44.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The company had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.85 million. Equities research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 28.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.07.

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.