Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 1,571 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 171.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 22,244.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COLB shares. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $24.75 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.40 and its 200 day moving average is $27.54. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 56.69%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.