First Financial Bank Trust Division Takes $209,000 Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

First Financial Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,509,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,776,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,951,000 after purchasing an additional 163,782 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 19.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,069,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,453,000 after purchasing an additional 342,793 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 624,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CBSH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of 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 research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.07.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 400,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 552,904. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.70. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.09 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.07. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David L. Roller sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $64,320.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,236,684.23. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 1,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.54, for a total transaction of $106,848.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,723.86. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,398 shares of company stock worth $2,504,665. Company 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.