Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 30.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 271,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $16,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBSH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 86.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 156.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price target on Commerce Bancshares and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.79.

Insider Activity

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total transaction of $64,024.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $579,539.80. The trade was a 9.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $84,917.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,650,762.40. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,219 shares of company stock worth $2,126,803 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $71.57 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.72 and a 12 month high of $73.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.74.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.85 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

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.