Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,034 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,034 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Columbia Banking System worth $3,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. Stephens lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ COLB opened at $24.77 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.03 and a 200-day moving average of $27.47.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 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.