Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) EVP John K. Handy Sells 4,844 Shares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) EVP John K. Handy sold 4,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total value of $325,759.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,734,048.75. This trade represents a 10.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $68.59 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $47.09 and a one year high of $72.75. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.16.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inceptionr LLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 28,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,387,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $2,050,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CBSH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.