Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock Price

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CBSH. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 3.2 %

CBSH stock opened at $60.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.48. Commerce Bancshares has a 52 week low of $47.89 and a 52 week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its 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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total value of $67,690.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,439,427.85. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,016 shares of company stock valued at $5,422,811 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently 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.