Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 33,448 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,448 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Columbia Banking System worth $3,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 384.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 64,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 51,212 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 16,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 4,346 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,614,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,166,000 after buying an additional 53,847 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 439.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 65,072 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 17.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 52,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $25.57 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.49. The company has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

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.