Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 122,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,592,000 after purchasing an additional 176,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 716,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,712,000 after buying an additional 97,498 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $25.63 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.48.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 56.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Columbia Banking System 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.