Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 30.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 485,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 211,787 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $12,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COLB. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 85.1% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 144.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $30.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.44. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $31.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

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.