Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 22,244.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 6,006 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $24.94 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.69%.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other Columbia Banking System 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 transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

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.