CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Raises Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $202,000 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 the company. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 29,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 16,921 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at $352,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,664,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth about $484,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In related 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 transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COLB shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $20.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.49. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.93%. 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.