Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 58,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3,669.2% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,094,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,405,000 after buying an additional 7,880,183 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 65.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,791,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,508,000 after buying an additional 7,465,846 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 91.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,102,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,985,000 after buying an additional 4,342,755 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $90,775,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,011,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John F. Schultz purchased 8,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $174,518.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,729.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton purchased 2,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,018.48. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John F. Schultz purchased 8,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $174,518.01. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,729.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 35,133 shares of company stock worth $719,737. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock opened at $18.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.16. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.35). Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $519.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 87.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet downgraded Columbia Banking System from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.42.

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.