Wedbush Securities Inc. Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,345,000 after acquiring an additional 61,242 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,315,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,602,000 after purchasing an additional 206,643 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,249,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,001,000 after buying an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,267,000 after buying an additional 172,066 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $20.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.27. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

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.