36,800 Shares in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Purchased by Mork Capital Management LLC

Mork Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COLB. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

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 shares were 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 directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.85.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 7.1%

NASDAQ COLB opened at $25.63 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.11 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.40 and a 200-day moving average of $26.72. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $482.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.02%.

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.