Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC trimmed its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 739 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 194.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 141.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 41.4% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on COLB. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.27.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.9%

COLB stock opened at $25.96 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.33. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.61 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.60.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $492.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.