Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Holdings Decreased by Vista Investment Management

Vista Investment Management trimmed its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,517 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Management’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 132,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,569,000 after buying an additional 4,063 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 122,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,303,000 after buying an additional 4,408 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 385.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 119,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 94,916 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB opened at $24.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.59. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.11 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.59.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on COLB. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.85.

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.