Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 2.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,827,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,631,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,004,000 after purchasing an additional 259,127 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 232,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,432,000 after purchasing an additional 63,266 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $1,176,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $1,226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $61.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.75. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $65.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.02.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.62% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business had revenue of $414.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $124,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,999.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total transaction of $124,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,999.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 3,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $245,726.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,256,471.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,612 shares of company stock worth $3,184,609. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.