Phocas Financial Corp. Reduces Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,221 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.12% of Columbia Banking System worth $6,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. Citigroup cut their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Raymond James set a $27.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of COLB opened at $23.59 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.11 and a 12-month high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.39.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.02%.

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.