Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $844,000 Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COLB. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $560,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 39.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 135.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 63,932 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. Stephens dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.67. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.00.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

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.