19,200 Shares in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Expect Equity LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $3,850,000. FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 764,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,641,000 after purchasing an additional 405,309 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 27,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,109,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,986,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 73,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 18,994 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $25.02 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.11 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.45 and a 200-day moving average of $26.65.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on COLB shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James set a $27.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.