Northern Trust Corp Purchases 329,485 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,768,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 329,485 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.84% of Columbia Banking System worth $47,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on COLB shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James set a $27.00 target price on Columbia Banking System and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $24.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 0.59. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.11 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.77.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Columbia Banking System 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.