Cerity Partners LLC Sells 2,863 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at $65,249,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,476,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,956,000 after purchasing an additional 512,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 25.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.6%

COLB stock opened at $24.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.82. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.61 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 16.85%. The company had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.86 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $27.00 price target on Columbia Banking System and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.79.

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.