Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 18.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,776 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,850,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after buying an additional 112,826 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 81.4% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 52,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after buying an additional 23,597 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,041,000 after buying an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,152,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.04.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $24.37 on Monday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $28.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $472.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $476.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio 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.