Farringdon Capital Ltd. Invests $403,000 in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 14,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In other Columbia Banking System 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COLB. Stephens lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $22.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.46 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.63 and a 200-day moving average of $27.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 56.69%.

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.