Bryce Point Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 15,565 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 15,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 171.3% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $20.78 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.53.

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, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 56.69%.

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.