Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,050,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,524,000 after acquiring an additional 219,826 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,951,000 after purchasing an additional 163,782 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 3,635.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 153,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,544,000 after purchasing an additional 149,070 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth $6,087,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $62.34 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.45. The company has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $914,285.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.