Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 58,600 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 58,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 10,720 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 49,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 14,160 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,037,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other Columbia Banking System news, insider Aaron James Deer purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 36,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,942. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director John F. Schultz bought 8,559 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $174,518.01. Following the purchase, the director now owns 41,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,729.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Aaron James Deer bought 2,000 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.32 per share, for a total transaction of $38,640.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,942. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock opened at $18.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.16. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.35). The business had revenue of $519.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.42.

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.