Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Given New $66.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CBSH traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.05. 483,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 512,688. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.72. Commerce Bancshares has a 52 week low of $40.91 and a 52 week high of $65.86.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $414.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.88 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 23.62%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 3,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at $3,256,471.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 3,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $245,726.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at $3,256,471.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,535 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total value of $100,020.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,722 shares in the company, valued at $177,365.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,362 shares of company stock worth $4,393,005. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.3% during the first quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 60,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 4,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Company 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.