Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,506 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.12% of Columbia Banking System worth $5,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 113.4% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 85.1% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 144.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.04.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $25.04 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.30 and a 200-day moving average of $20.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.65. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $472.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $476.01 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.80%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.