KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 2,300 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS trimmed its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Norges Bank bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,249,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,544 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at $22,476,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,956,000 after acquiring an additional 512,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,109,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,986,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $24.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $19.61 and a one year high of $32.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.84 and a 200 day moving average of $24.71.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $492.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on COLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.86.

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.