Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 114,890 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 263,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 114,890 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $6,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 612.8% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 194.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $403,926.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,241 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $63,308.25. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 100,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,838,249.25. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,206 shares of company stock worth $531,859 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.84. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.61 and a twelve month high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $715.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.23 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 17.11%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COLB. Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbia Banking System to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.04.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.