Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Position Boosted by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 42.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 137,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,826 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $3,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 141.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Financial Harvest LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 1.9%

COLB opened at $25.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on COLB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.