HighTower Advisors LLC Makes New $352,000 Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 54.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 44.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COLB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.19 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.25. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

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.