Insider Selling: Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) VP Sells $70,696.64 in Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at $1,513,222. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CBSH traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $68.59. 372,045 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 538,177. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.13. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.09 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CBSH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth $47,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.