Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 875 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 175,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,583,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 111,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COLB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 2.6 %

COLB opened at $28.04 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.35 and its 200 day moving average is $27.04. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.66. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. As a group, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 56.69%.

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.