California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 280,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,613 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $7,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 60,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $20.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.53. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $32.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.45.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

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.