Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Cuts Stock Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 984 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,109,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,623,000 after buying an additional 178,327 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after buying an additional 1,611,563 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,099,000 after buying an additional 562,467 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,267,000 after buying an additional 172,066 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 14.2% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,534,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,074,000 after buying an additional 190,311 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on COLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens decreased 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock opened at $24.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

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