Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 3,919 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 221.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,947,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096,733 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,527,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,791,000 after buying an additional 1,012,796 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 528.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 742,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,508,000 after buying an additional 624,011 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,331,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,199,000 after buying an additional 597,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter worth $12,588,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.6%

COLB opened at $27.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.12. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.67. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $348.47 million for the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. Equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Columbia Banking System from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.38.

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.