US Bancorp DE Sells 13,978 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,978 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COLB. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 117,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after buying an additional 8,114 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $248,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $4,231,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.3 %

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $25.04 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.