SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $32,000 in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after buying an additional 1,611,563 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth about $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,126,000 after acquiring an additional 874,986 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,099,000 after acquiring an additional 562,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 98.6% during the third quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 944,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 468,832 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB opened at $24.04 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.69%.

Columbia Banking System 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.