Kumi Yamamoto Baruffi Sells 937 Shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Stock

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) EVP Kumi Yamamoto Baruffi sold 937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.23, for a total value of $24,577.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,944.45. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB stock traded up $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $26.47. 2,622,550 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,981,277. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.38 and a 200 day moving average of $27.82. The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.60. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.23 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 17.11%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 664,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,094,000 after acquiring an additional 187,551 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 145.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,019,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,671,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157,835 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 278,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,179,000 after purchasing an additional 87,627 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,495,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 48,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COLB. 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 research note on Friday, December 19th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.04.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

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.