Insider Selling: Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) CEO Sells $1,752,105.76 in Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,258,583.12. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH opened at $67.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.09 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CBSH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% in 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 purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.