Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 929 Shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,853 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Columbia Sportswear were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COLM. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 184.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 600 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 915 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Columbia Sportswear by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 942 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COLM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Sportswear

In other news, EVP Richelle T. Luther sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.36, for a total transaction of $369,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,177.88. This represents a 21.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 6,395 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $522,727.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,503.52. The trade was a 27.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 44.70% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Up 12.1 %

NASDAQ:COLM opened at $68.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.65. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Columbia Sportswear has a 12 month low of $59.07 and a 12 month high of $92.88.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The textile maker reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.06). Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 6.63%. Research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Columbia Sportswear Company Profile

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities.