Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 542 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $914,285.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. The trade was a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,016 shares of company stock valued at $5,355,121 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $60.71 on Monday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $47.89 and a one year high of $72.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

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.