Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 875 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 26.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 14.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COLB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $28.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.04. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc operates as the holding company of Umpqua Bank that provides banking, private banking, mortgage, and other financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business, non-interest bearing checking, interest-bearing checking and savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and insured cash sweep and other investment sweep solutions.