D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 20,975 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 206,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,975 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $5,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 35.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 82,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 15,845 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 572.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 484,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,089,000 after buying an additional 412,674 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 492,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,290,000 after buying an additional 108,994 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 887,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,128,000 after buying an additional 16,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 1.1%

COLB opened at $33.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $33.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.56.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 58.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on COLB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Fundamental Research set a $35.00 price target on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Columbia Banking System

In other news, CMO Devine David Moore sold 3,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total transaction of $115,269.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 18,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $554,793.72. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.