Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 44.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 88,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,155 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $2,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth $104,819,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 145.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,019,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,671,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157,835 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,495,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,941,000 after buying an additional 1,497,177 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,948,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $209,220,000 after buying an additional 1,381,597 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter worth $23,813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COLB. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $403,926.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $31.14 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $31.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.90. The company has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.61.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 65.49%.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.