Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut Commerce Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.83.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.80. The stock had a trading volume of 429,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 527,276. The company has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.95. Commerce Bancshares has a 1 year low of $47.09 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, SVP David L. Roller sold 890 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $64,320.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,236,684.23. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total value of $311,490.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 23,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,244.50. This represents a 15.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,475,680. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7,407.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 362,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,556,000 after buying an additional 358,066 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,524,000 after buying an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,084 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,081,000 after buying an additional 214,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,951,000 after buying an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,006,000 after buying an additional 106,316 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.